Inherited War
by Setari
Summary: Some sixteen years ago, a war between the Whitebeard Pirates and the World Government shook the world. The casualties were numerous, but one man, the man who started it all, left behind his will. Now, his war will be inherited by the next generation.
1. Prologue: Three Years Ago

_A/N: Hello and welcome. I'm a little self-conscious about putting this story up on here, so reviews (especially constructive critasism) will be welcomed and loved. If you have any questions, I'm more than happy to answer them in a review reply. I suppose it's only fair to warn you that as this is a Next Generation story, there will be hints of romance between canon characters, though, of course, that isn't the focus of this story. I hope that if there's a pairing in this that you don't like that it doesn't put you off too much._

_The rating system on this place confuses the hell out of me, but as there is some swearing and violence in this, I playe dit safe and went for 'T', if you think that's too much/too little, let me know in a review, because I haven't really got a clue._

_Anyway, I hope you enjoy. On with the story~_

* * *

><p>"OI! YOU LITTLE BRAT!"<p>

The Marine's angry yelling echoed over the quiet coastal village. It had been a peaceful day, with a gentle breeze and a few light clouds scudding across the perfectly blue sky. That was, until a certain young girl got bored with the peace and decided that drawing graffiti all over the local Marine base would break the monotony nicely.

As she ran from her pursuer, the girl laughed. She was currently fourteen years old and, as she would tell anyone who would listen, now officially a _woman_. Her features were sharp and slightly impish, giving her a face that every teacher in the world would immediately peg as 'trouble-maker'. Not that they would be very far off at all. A grin spread across her face, lopsided and somewhat insane-looking. Her freckled cheeks dimpled, adding an element of cuteness to the mix that made her look even more like the mythical sprite of mischief.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she judged an upcoming corner. They were a soft dusky pink and sparkled with her intent to cause havoc and chaos. With the tip of her tongue sticking out of the corner of her lips, she took the corner without slowing down at all, her flat-soled black boots skidding on the dirt track as she tried to avoid colliding with the wall. Her shoulder-length black hair whipped round before once again being tugged out behind her as she ran on. The wavy strands were held out of her eyes by a pair of old-fashioned goggles. The lenses were tinted blue and the frame was bronze and had a steam-punk style to it. Hanging by the left side of her face was a single thick strand of whiter hair, wavy like the rest, but completely colourless.

She rounded another corner, slipping into an alleyway so narrow that she nearly skinned her elbows on the wall. She wished she could pull the sleeves of her jacket down to cover the exposed flesh, but she didn't want to risk slowing herself down. The jacket was a dark indigo and thick, and would have served well in keeping her warm if she had bothered to zip it up. She'd left it open, however, showing off that she was wearing nothing underneath but a black bikini top. The bottom hem of the jacket didn't quite reach the bottom of her ribcage, and the sleeves, which should have covered her wrists, were shoved up to above her elbows. Below that, she wore royal blue shorts that were covered in pockets and zips and clung to the top third of her thighs, along with a violet belt.

The end of the alley came into sight after she rounded another corner, but she didn't slow. The solid brick wall raced up to meet her and she used the grip of her boots to plant one foot on it and launch herself upwards. Her fingers curled over the top of the wall and she heaved herself up without a pause. On the other side of the wall was a park and the girl dropped down onto the grass and sprinted for cover. She ducked under the branches of a willow tree, then darted among some thick, untamed bushes. Once she was sure the Marine wasn't going to find her, the girl flopped down onto the ground and allowed herself a quiet chuckle.

"Think you got away with that, don't you?"

The girl sat bolt upright at the voice, and looked around guiltily. She spotted the man who had spoken leaning against the trunk of a gnarled oak. He was chewing on the end of a cigar, the smoke of which was drifting slowly over his head. He narrowed his black eyes at her and waited for her to crack. She began chewing on her lip and tried not to feel guilty.

Eventually, the man sighed heavily and ran a hand through his short white hair. He pulled another cigar out of the holsters on his black leather jacket and dropped down to sit next to the girl. He stuck the second cigar into his mouth beside the first and pulled a lighter out of the pocket of his jeans. He lit his cigar, then passed the lighter to the girl without a word. She beamed, knowing this meant she was forgiven, and began playing with the lighter, allowing the flame to dance over her fingers and palm.

The man took a deep breath of the doubled cigar smoke, then sighed, the smoke streaming from his mouth. "I thought I told you not to draw attention to yourself here." He growled mildly, no longer angry but still highly annoyed.

Glancing up at him, the girl gave him a sheepish look. "I'm sorry, Pops. I was just… I was _so_bored, and they had these cans of blue paint lying around out back, and I just-… I couldn't help myself. It was too tempting!" She gazed at him with imploring eyes, now coloured a faintly brownish grey in her guilt and apology.

Her pops sighed out another stream of cigar smoke into the air, and reached out to ruffle her hair. "You're so like your dad, Morgana… It's scary." He grumbled, closing his eyes and tilting his head back to lean it against the tree trunk.

The girl, Morgana, perked up at the mention of her other parent. She had always known that she had two fathers, but it wasn't until she was eight or nine that she realised that it wasn't only unusual, but often frowned upon. She'd never really understood why, but she figured most people were just cruel that way. She'd never met her dad, or if she had she couldn't remember, and her pops had told her once that he had died a little before her first birthday. She didn't know much more about him, only that she was a lot like him in both looks and personality. "What do you mean? Did he ever graffiti a Marine base?" She asked.

Her pops chuckled. "Not graffiti one, no, but I'm pretty sure he burned several down."

"He _burned_them down?" Morgana asked, shuffling forwards, her eyes fading back into a dusty, excited pink that was almost red. She knew that her love of fire probably wasn't healthy, but she didn't really care. Her pops nodded his confirmation, not opening his eyes. "Didn't you once say he was a pirate?" She asked curiously.

Nodding again, her pops slowly allowed the tension to seep out of his shoulders. "Yeah. He was." He said quietly, his voice low and slightly melancholy. "He set out to sea when he was seventeen, but I didn't meet him until nearly three years later." He told Morgana softly, and the young teen held her breath. Her pops had never willingly spoken about her dad before. He'd always avoided the subject, or told her he didn't want to talk about it. Now, it seemed, he was finally willing to share a little bit.

"Was he famous?" Morgana asked in a voice so quiet it was practically a whisper. She wanted to know if she'd ever seen his face before on old wanted posters or something. She thought she would have recognised him if she had, but she still hoped that her dad might have been one of those famous pirating names that everyone knew.

Her pops took a moment to answer, breathing more cigar smoke into the air. "Yeah, he was famous." He told her. "Very famous." He added slightly bitterly. Morgana frowned at the tone, but didn't ask about it, afraid of her pops clamming up again. There was a long silence between them, as Morgana waited for more info, and her pops drifted with his thoughts. "He had eaten the Mera-Mera fruit." He said suddenly. That was new. Morgana looked at her pops with raised eyebrows. She wracked her brains, trying to remember an old pirate who had eaten the Mera-Mera fruit, but her brain came up blank. "That's the reason for…" Her pops had opened one eye and gestured to her hand. Morgana looked down and started when she realised she'd had the lighter on the whole time, with the tip of her middle finger resting in the flame.

"Oh." Morgana nodded, and smiled. She had been fireproof for as long as she could remember, and when she had been small enough to fit, had often been found sleeping curled up in fireplaces. She'd never really thought about why, but it sort of made sense if her dad had been pretty much made of fire. "Was he a Captain?" She asked curiously.

"No." Her pops answered at once. "He started off that way, but he joined the Whitebeard Pirates a couple of years before I met him." Morgana's eyes went wide. Her dad really had been big. If he was famous even among the masses that were the Whitebeard Pirates, then he had to have been a formidable opponent.

All of a sudden, Morgana found herself smiling. "I'd have loved to see the two of you fight." She told her pops in a warm voice.

To her surprise, he laughed. "It really was something to see." He agreed. "We could never land a hit on each other, both being Logia users, but… It was one of the few times I really felt _alive_." He smiled nostalgically and tipped his head back to blow a stream of smoke into the sky. "Once or twice we agreed to spar without powers, and it was… incredible."

Morgana couldn't help but smirk. "I'll bet." She answered, and when her pops turned to look at her with a frown on his face, she wiggled her eyebrows at him. To her eternal amusement, her pops' face went scarlet and he turned away, grumbling around his cigars. She fell sideways to lean against the tree trunk and cackled at her pops embarrassment.

"Watch it." Her pops grumbled, but she knew he didn't really mean it. She could always tell when her pops was being serious and when he was just uncomfortable, like he was now.

"Watch what?" She asked innocently, causing her pops to roll his eyes. She grinned and leaned more comfortably against the tree trunk, relaxing as she mulled over what she had just been told. Her pops smoked his way through another two sets of double cigars before either of them spoke again. "What was his name?" She asked quietly.

Her pops stilled, then sagged as if he'd just been doused in salt water. He sighed heavily, and Morgana caught a glimpse of a pained expression on his face before he turned his face back to the sky. "Portgas D. Ace." He said quietly.

There was a full minute of silence as Morgana reeled. She had heard of Portgas D. Ace. Who hadn't? He had been the catalyst for a war that had shaken the world to its core and had opened the way for the new era. There were several facts that she knew about her father that sent her head spinning, the first and foremost being the reason for his execution. His father, Morgana's grandfather, was none other than the first Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. Not to mention, Morgana thought as the shock began to settle, he was also the adopted brother of Straw Hat Luffy, the _second_Pirate King. Morgana giggled to herself. "I'm a Princess." She told her pops in a joking tone.

Her pops stared at her, then laughed loudly. "Typical." He grunted, sounding highly amused.

Morgana's mirth faded, however, as several other things slotted into place. "That's why you're always so insistent I don't draw attention to myself, isn't it?" She asked, and she saw her pops nod out of the corner of her eye. "And why we travel so much. You don't want to stay in one place too long in case a Marine veteran recognises me." Her pops nodded again.

"Ace was executed because of who his father was. It was wrong, but there was fuck all I could do about it. I don't want to be in that position ever again." He rumbled, his voice thick with emotion.

"You know what though…" Morgana began, feeling an odd mixture of sadness and delight welling up in her that was undoubtedly turning her eyes a very dark, greyish pink. "Imagine Seagull-head's face if he ever realised the bloodline of the first Pirate King was still alive." She heard her pops chuckle, and smiled. Morgana let her thoughts drift after that, and the more she thought, the less content she became. "Pops…" She said slowly, feeling a little hesitant to speak her mind.

"Yeah?" Her pops huffed the word out as if he knew what she was about to say and was resigned to hearing it.

Morgana sighed and began picking at the grass she was sat on. "I… I don't think I can keep running." She said quietly. "I know I'm still a kid, really, but… I don't want to live my life hiding from them. I'm proud of where I come from, and I'm not afraid of the Navy." She declared. She heard her pops huff out a sharp breath, but he didn't speak, so she carried on. "I-… I'm going to fight them with everything I have." She said quietly, resolve bleeding into her voice as her eyes turned a stormy grey in her fierce determination. "They have no right to decide whether I live or die, least of all because of my parents! I'm gonna provoke them until they're so pissed they won't know what to do with themselves." She added bitterly.

She expected her pops to yell at her, to tell her off for being reckless, but he did neither. He simply sighed again and continued to watch the clouds as he spoke in a slow, melancholy voice. "I knew you were going to say that. I knew from the time you stole my lighter when you were two that you were going to get yourself into deep shit." He paused to take a deep drag on his cigars, and when he spoke again, little puffs of smoke poured from his mouth with every word. "I won't stop you from doing whatever you want. It's your life, and no one else has the right to tell you how to live it, not even me. I'll stand by whatever you choose to do, and if you get yourself caught, I'll raise fucking hell to get you back."

It took Morgana a moment to fully process what her pops was saying, but once she had, she felt tears of gratitude stinging at the corners of her eyes. She sniffed them back and turned round to hung her pops as tightly as she could. "I love you, Pops." She mumbled, and when her pops arms came up to return the embrace, she felt a warm feeling of safety and contentment wash over her.

"But you've got to promise me one thing, Gana." Her pops continued as if she hadn't spoken, and she looked up at him, her eyes back to their usual chocolate brown in her contentment as she waited for her pops to speak. Her pops met her gaze and sighed, looking resigned. "At least wait until you're seventeen."

Morgana laughed, her eyes fading into a soft rosy pink. "I promise, Pops."


	2. Chapter 1: Pirate and Journalist

Dusk was falling slowly over Lougetown, and Merry found himself getting increasingly homesick. Lougetown could no longer be defined as a town in any sense of the word. It had expanded and grown into a bustling metropolis, and it was so far removed from the quiet coastal village where Merry had grown up that it could almost have been a different planet.

He had left the large country estate where he had grown up a few months ago, heading for Lougetown to find work as a journalist. And he had managed it at last. Just a few days ago, one of the leading newspapers, the Louge Herald had agreed to hire him as a freelance journalist. He'd get paid if and when he supplied them with a story that made it to printing. Lougetown was a big city, but Merry was having trouble finding something good to write about. He had a lot of little stories forming in his head from the things he'd seen while he'd been here, but he was holding out for something really impressive. He had the half-formed idea in his head that if he could get a story on the front page, it was likely they'd offer him a permanent job.

Scuffing the sole of his comfy but smart dress shoes on the paved walkway, Merry continued to wander down the slowly emptying streets. The crowds of afternoon shoppers were dispersing, and in their place were the early-birds of the clubbing and nightlife scene. As it was, Merry looked rather out of place in his neat slacks and casual mint green button-up shirt. His white-blonde hair was cut neatly around his ears, and that combined with his refined upper-class features and soft grey eyes didn't help him with blending in at the clubbing scene. He shook his head, inwardly laughing at himself for feeling a little self-conscious.

After a few more hours of wandering and exploring, Merry had decided that he would head home and get some sleep when something caught his attention. The faintest smell of acrid smoke hit his nose and made it wrinkle in disgust. He turned towards the source, his curiosity springing to life like an eager kitten. What he saw in the distance made his heart jump in his chest and start pumping adrenalin into his veins. The purpling sky was lit up with a faint orange glow that could only come from one thing. Either someone had lit a really big bonfire, or there was a building in flames.

Without needing to think about it, Merry shot off in the direction of the glow, doing his best to keep heading straight towards it. He darted through a queue for a club, ignoring the curious murmurs stirred up behind him, and ducked into a side street. A few tense minutes later, Merry realised where he was heading, and excitement built up in his chest. If his hunch was correct, and they usually were, he was heading towards the Marine base. It was a large building, this being not only a city, but _Lougetown_, the beginning and the end of the Pirate King's legacy.

If the Marine base was on fire, there was a very high chance it wasn't an accident. An article on an arsonist setting light to the marine base would be a good piece. It might, just _might_, be enough to make the front page, if Merry could be the first journalist on the scene. With that thought in mind, he picked up his pace, rounded a corner, and bumped into someone's back. He reeled, struggling to stay on his feet, and looked up. There was a large crowd surrounding the Marine base, being cordoned off by a few of the men in their white and blue uniforms. Merry cursed.

After a few seconds of grumbling, Merry began worming his way through the crowd to the front. He trod on toes and elbowed sides, all the while feigning accidental clumsiness, until he reached the front and a Marine placed a hand on his chest. "I'm sorry, sir, but you'll have to stay back." He said, and Merry complied, staying with the rest of the crowd and shoving his hands into his pockets.

"What happened?" He asked, eyes wide with feigned horror.

The Marine sighed. "We don't know yet. The building started burning about ten minutes ago. We think it's likely to be arson, because the fire spread too quickly to have started in just one place." He confessed, looking somewhere between concerned and pissed off.

"Arson?" Merry echoed, pretending to be shocked by the idea. "Who on earth would do that to a _Marine base_?"

Looking rather grim, the Marine crossed his arms huffily over his chest. "It could be any number of people; petty criminals, teenagers looking for an adrenalin rush, pirates, or even revolutionaries." He stated bitterly.

"Revolutionaries?" Merry questioned. "Here?"

The Marine nodded. "Yeah. There's been more movement from them lately, and this is _Lougetown_." The way the man said the name left Merry with no doubts that he was referring to the fact it was the place the Pirate King was born and killed. "It's the perfect place to make a statement."

"Ah, I see." Merry nodded.

He was just about to ask another question, perhaps push for more information on the revolutionaries, but at that moment, someone screamed. Merry turned towards the sound, eyes wide. Someone else screamed, and this time, Merry could discern words in the terrified screeching.

"_There's someone on the roof!_"

Merry whirled round again to stare at the Marine base, as did the Marine beside him. What he saw sent Merry scrambling for his camera, stowed somewhere in his messenger bag. He finally found it and raised it to his eyes, zooming in on the roof of the base. Stood there among the flames licking at the sky was the silhouette of a person. The figure was hazy thanks to the heat haze and the smoke, but Merry could still see that they were stood on the edge of the roof, and they didn't look very perturbed by the flames licking at their calves. He snapped off a few pictures, then zoomed in even more, trying to get a good shot of the person's face.

The flickering of the flames made it hard to see, but a sudden flare from the fire below set a blaze of light flaring over the figure's features, and Merry thought his heart had stopped. He _knew_ it wasn't possible, but his eyes, and his trusty camera, were telling him that the person on the building was identical to Fire-Fist Ace. Even in his stunned state, Merry still managed to take a few more pictures of the person on the roof, with their features lit up by the blaze. Then the figure spoke, and the crowd fell into a stunned hush broken only by the occasional mutter or whisper.

"I AM GOL D. MORGANA! THE BLOOD OF THE PIRATE KING FLOWS IN MY VEINS, AND I'M DAMNED PROUD OF IT! YOU MARINES WOULD SEE ME IMPRISONED OR EXECUTED JUST BECAUSE OF MY HERITAGE! IF YOU INTEND YOU HUNT ME ANYWAY, THEN I'LL DAMNED WELL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO HUNT ME FOR!"

Suddenly, the figure made a violent gesture, and a little flicker of flame spun through the air. Merry followed it with his camera, taking yet more pictures as it sailed through the air and landed, smack bang in the middle of the Marine flag. Merry's stomach turned over in excitement as he managed to get pictures of that silent declaration of war. The crowd went deadly silent, shock rippling through them.

"FIGHT ME IF YOU DARE!"

With that, the figure disappeared back into the haze of smoke. Everyone stood in stunned silence for a few age-long seconds, until the Marines burst into action. The man in charge began barking orders and troops of the uniformed men began scrambling about, looking for the criminal. Merry fought his way through the crowd, no longer bothering to pretend to be polite. Once he was free of the crushing press of bodies, he scrambled back towards his home, pulling his notepad out of his pocket as he went. Screw the Louge Herald, this article would be world-wide news. He had the number for the World Guardian newspaper, but he'd never dared call before.

With trembling hands, he scribbled out the speech word for word, and thanked every deity he could think of that he'd been blessed with an excellent memory. It took him no more than five minutes to get to the small apartment he now called home. He flung open the door and threw himself at his Den-Den Mushi, startling the little creature into wakefulness and probably scaring the shit out of it. He didn't really care at the moment. Breathlessly, he recited the number for the newspaper, and waited for someone to pick up at the other end.

A slightly sleepy sounding voice answered him. "Hello, World Guardian newspaper."

"Hi." Merry said swiftly. "I have the biggest story you'll ever get the chance to print this year, and I'm willing to sell it to you for a permanent job." He said without preamble.

He heard a tired sigh on the other end. "Oh, yeah? What's this massive story then?" The man, because Merry was almost certain the owner of the voice was male, droned, sounding highly sceptical and a little bit mocking. Indeed, Merry's little Den-Den Mushi had just rolled its eyes and fixed Merry with an incredulous look.

Merry smirked and took half a second to catch his breath. "A descendant of the Pirate King just declared war on the World Government." He said smugly.

There was silence on the other end while the Den-Den Mushi gaped at Merry. There was a sudden frantic scrambling noise, and then the man spoke again, sounding infinitely more attentive than before. "You have proof?" He asked.

"Oh, yeah. I got lots of pictures, and a word for word quote of what they said." Merry assured him. "I can have the article written and sent to you…" He checked his watch. It was twenty past midnight. "…before three." He finished smugly. "In return, I want a solid, proper job working for you." He reiterated.

"Deal" The man on the other end said instantly.

Merry grinned. "Thanks." He said sincerely. "Bye." He added as he hung up, trying to control himself so he didn't accidentally kill the little creature with his over-excitement. The Den-Den Mushi made a quiet noise that signified the end of the call, then drooped as it went back to sleep.

For the next hour Merry did nothing but write, going over his article three more times than usual, just to make sure it was his absolute best work, before taking the roll of film with the pictures on and packing it, along with the article and a quickly scribbled note, inside an envelope. He dashed to the post office and paid a hefty extra sum to have the guarantee that his package would get there within five hours.

The next day, Gol D. Morgana's declaration of war was plastered over the front page of the World Guardian. Merry couldn't have been prouder to see his own name underneath the bold headline. He hoped that his parents might see it. They probably would. His mother preferred getting the World Guardian over the other global newspapers.

Merry had slept late that morning, making up for his late night, and got up a little before midday. He pulled together a makeshift lunch in his apartment, intending to stay inside all day and work on his novel as a reward for himself. He was just settling down at his desk, pencil in hand, when a feminine voice spoke up behind him.

"So you're Saiseki Merry, huh?"

Feeling shock and a little bit of fear gripping his chest, Merry whirled round to face the intruder, and nearly fainted in shock. Sat on the floor in the middle of his living room, cross-legged and very child-like, was none other than Gol D. Morgana. Her face was unmistakable, once the connection had been made. Of course, it was only those of the older generation, Marines, or history fanatics like Merry that had seen Fire-Fist Ace's wanted posters.

Apparently, Morgana found his shock funny, because she giggled. "I saw your article. That's why I'm here, actually." She said, grinning at him. Merry swallowed nervously. That grin looked slightly psychotic. She snickered again. "You look like you're about to shit yourself." She told him, sounding highly amused. "Seriously, though, calm down. I thought your article was awesome."

Relief seeped through Merry, and he relaxed somewhat. He turned his chair around so that he could sit comfortably and still be able to see Morgana. "You did?" He asked hopefully.

Morgana nodded. "Oh, yeah! It was great! I specially loved the bit where you said you mistook me for the ghost of my dad." She blushed faintly, hunching her shoulders. Merry thought the expression was somewhere between pride and bashful. "I hope dad's proud of me." She added, biting her lip.

"So you _are_ Fire-Fist Ace's daughter?" Merry checked. Morgana nodded, raising an eyebrow at him incredulously. "I thought so, but I had to check." He said. "Who's your mum?" He asked, not really expecting an answer, but having to ask anyway.

Morgana laughed. "I don't have a mum." She said.

Merry frowned. "Do you mean she's dead…?" He asked, frowning.

"Nope." Morgana shook her head. "I don't have a mum. Never did."

There was silence as Merry simply stared at her, waiting for her to either explain herself, or tell him she was joking and that she wouldn't tell him who her mother was. When she simply returned his stare with a polite smile and an expectant look, he resigned himself to probing. "Right… So then… how were you born?"

"Um… I do believe that Pops had to pull me out of Dad's stomach." Morgana answered, and something about the look on her face, the smirk decorating her lips, told Merry that she knew full well her answer was as good as a riddle to him.

"What?" He asked.

Morgana chuckled. "On the fourteenth of April, seventeen years ago, I started trying to claw my way out of my dad- _Ace's_ stomach." She said slowly, and was highly amused when Merry, ever the journalist, grabbed his notebook and began scribbling down what she said in shorthand. "Obviously, I couldn't get out like a normal baby, my dad being, well, my _dad_. So my pops, whose name you will never, ever get out of me, told him to try and turn everything but me into fire, and he'd grab me and pull me out. Apparently, Dad didn't really like that idea, convinced that I'd come out all charred and dead." Merry snorted at this. "But he was Logia user, right? So when I started kicking something awful, he automatically turned to fire, and Pops didn't hesitate to grab me. At least, that's what Pops told me. Obviously, I can't remember it."

After he finished scribbling, Merry looked up at her with a perfectly calm expression on his face. "You're insane, aren't you?" He asked simply.

"Probably a little bit." Morgana confessed, grinning. "I readily admit that my obsession with fire might be just a tad unhealthy, but I'm certainly not delusional. If you want evidence, of a sort, then lemme ask you this: How come I didn't burn to a crisp stood on top of the Marine base last night, eh?" She asked pointedly.

Merry didn't want to admit that she made a rather good point. "But how on earth could a man get pregnant anyway?" He asked.

"It's something to do with being a Logia user." Morgana answered immediately. "Logia users have their whole body turned into a certain element, right? It changes their entire biological structure, right down to each individual molecule. It's just one more side effect. At least, that's what Pops said the doctor said, anyway."

As he wrote down what Morgana was saying, Merry turned the idea over in his mind. The idea wasn't as insane as it seemed, and he did remember his father saying something about how freaky Logia powers could be. Merry looked up once he was done writing and considered Morgana. "You said you were here about my article?" He prompted slowly.

"Ah! Yeah." Morgana nodded. "I realised how freaking lucky it was that you were there last night. If you hadn't been there, the marines would have heard about me, sure, but normal people…" She shook her head, looking a little peeved. "Nah." Then her expression did a complete one-eighty and she beamed at Merry. "But you _were_ there, and _you_ made _me_ into _front page news_!" She enthused. "So I wanted to come say thank you."

"This is an awful risk to be taking, just to say thank you." Merry pointed out.

Morgana nodded, conceding the point. "I suppose I didn't _just_ come to say thanks." She agreed. "I also wanted to make you an offer." Merry raised an eyebrow to let her know he was listening. "If you want, I'll let you accompany me on my travels. You can write all the articles you want about me. Trust me, I intend to be making a hell of a lot of headline news." She added, with a smirk. "It works for both of us. You get you exclusive eye-witness reports from me and others, and I get my exploits splashed over the front page before the World Government can sensor shit."

It was a very tempting offer. Nearly everyone with a middle initial of 'D' tended to be in the center of change. It was the carriers of the will of 'D' that made history, and, naturally, headline news. If Merry could be the one to record the exploits of the newest 'D', then all his dreams of fame as a journalist and author suddenly became tangible. He narrowed his eyes at Morgana in a calculating look that made her grin. "How exactly would it work if I agreed?" He asked.

Morgana shrugged casually, beaming at him like he'd already said yes. "Well, I have a small boat waiting for us in the harbour. You pack up whatever shit you have that you can take on a boat, mind you it is kinda small, and we head out the day after tomorrow. You effectively become one of the crew. The first of my crew, actually." She added sheepishly. "Obviously, there are some things I won't be able to tell you, seeing as you'll be writing articles that Marines will be able to read."

Chuckling, Merry shook his head. "Don't worry about me blabbing stuff like that. Like your pops' name or whatever. You're the best thing that's happened to me in forever. I don't want you getting arrested! What would happen to my career? I'd have to go back to writing about village fetes and shit." He pulled a face and Morgana laughed. "No, I'm on your side." He paused to think about it. "Besides, I'm hardly going to sell you out if I'm travelling with you. They'd just arrest me, too."

There was a moment, when Morgana considered him through narrowed eyes, as if trying to find a fault in his logic, but then she beamed at him. "That's good. So you are gonna come with me, right?" She checked.

"I think so." He agreed, looking thoughtful. "I need to think about it, sleep on it, and make sure it's really what I want." Morgana nodded. Humming thoughtfully, Merry turned to look at his Den-Den Mushi. "Maybe if I tell my new boss about the plan… I could get expenses and stuff paid by the newspaper. Like deliveries and the like." He glanced at Morgana. "Would that be ok?"

It took a moment for Morgana to answer, but eventually she nodded. "Yeah, but no specifics. I don't want to have to leave early."

"Why? What are you planning?" Merry asked shrewdly.

The grin that spread across Morgana's face scared him a little. It was brim full of confidence and mischief, and it looked just a little bit insane. "You'll see what I'm planning if you happen to be down by the waterfront at midday tomorrow. Somewhere near the Navy pier, I think, would be best." She told him in a fake-casual tone.

A mixture of emotions swept over Merry, and he found himself caught between excitement and resignation. "You're going to do something unbelievably reckless, aren't you?" He asked. Morgana nodded in childish anticipation and eagerness, and Merry couldn't help but laugh. "You're gonna be so bad for my emotions. I'm gonna be worrying about you getting caught, and at the same time excited to see what stunts you come up with next!"

The only answer he got was a grin as Morgana sprang to her feet and vaulted out of the window with an easy, cat-like grace. Merry shook his head. What on earth was he getting himself into? His dad would probably be scared shitless for him, and his mum would fuss endlessly, and they'd both tell him to go with it. With that thought in mind, Merry beamed and turned towards his Den-Den Mushi, anticipation for tomorrow coiling in his gut.


	3. Chapter 2: Spreading the News

_A/N: Well, here we are with Chapter 2. I tried a slightly different style with this chapter, and personally, I think it works rather well. Of course, I'd love to hear what you think as it's very difficult to judge your own work._

_I also want to add that I'm starting college next week, so the amount of time I can spend on this fic will be a bit limited. My goal is to keep a steady update of once a week, but what with college and my tendancy to procrastinate something awful, I don't know how successful I'll be. But who knows? Maybe getting out of the house somewhat regularly will actually inspire me to write more? I don't know. But anyway, I just thought I'd warn you._

_But never mind me. Morgana's much more interesting to read about, so on with the story~!  
><em>

* * *

><p>Somewhere in the vast oceans of East Blue, a messenger bird dropped a copy of the World Guardian newspaper onto the deck of a small boat. The thump of the paper landing on the wood caught the attention of the man who was currently inside the boat, eating breakfast. He stuck his head out and spotted the newspaper.<p>

Interest lit up his eyes and he walked outside, scooping up the newspaper and flopping into one of the two chairs out on deck. After lighting up a cigar, he unrolled the newspaper and was presented with a sheaf of new Wanted Posters. He leafed through them out of habit more than any real curiosity, but he froze when he saw a familiar face glaring up at him.

Lit up from below by firelight, the face looked sinister enough without the fierce scowl that was decorating her brow. Her eyes, though they were actually black, glittered amber with the reflection of what must have been an almighty blaze. The freckled on her cheeks, which normally made her cute, seemed to add an even more sinister edge to the image. That one so presumably childish could wear a look of such rage was disconcerting. Her mostly black hair was being dragged towards the left side of the picture by the unseen wind, the single lock of colourless strands was blowing over her face and in front of the goggles she was wearing. Those, too, were reflecting flames in their lenses. She looked positively dangerous, and the likeness to her dad's wanted poster was disconcerting to any who had known Fire Fist Ace, which the man on the boat most certainly had.

Almost fearing of what he would see, the man allowed his eyes to flick to the bottom of the poster, where the reward money would be stated in bold numbers under her name. He sucked in a harsh breath as the numbers registered in his brain, and he sucked in an unexpected lungful of cigar smoke. For the first time in over three decades, he choked on the poisonous fumes. After coughing the unexpected barrage of smoke out of his lungs, he took another look at the Wanted poster.

**WANTED**  
>Dead or Alive<strong><br>GOLD MORGANA**_  
>100,000,000 Beli<em>

Trembling, the man stared, wide-eyed at the poster, as if it would change the bounty and announce 'only joking!' but of course, it didn't. "One hundred million?" He breathed in disbelief. "Gana, what did you _do_?" Knowing he wouldn't get an answer from the wanted poster, he turned instead to the newspaper, hoping there would be some information in there. The front page headline '_Gol D. Morgana strikes again!_' caught his attention immediately, and he began to read.

'_Following her impressive stunt on the 5th __of May, when the Heir of the Pirate King burnt down a Marine Base, Gol D. Morgana further engraved her name in the history of Loguetown by setting fire to the Navy Pier, burning almost half the ships there beyond repair._

_ At midday on the 6th__ of May, following an anonymous tip, this reporter headed down to the waterfront. After waiting for nearly half an hour, I was all but ready to give up. However, my patience was rewarded as, all of a sudden, one of the Marine Warships seemed to explode of its own accord. Several more followed it before the dock workers could even begin to try and douse the blaze._

_ The raging inferno lasted well past dusk, and consumed nearly ten warships and over fifteen normal military vessels. Another twenty ships were damaged while over seventy marine workers are injured and another fourteen lost their lives. Nine men died while bravely trying to combat the fire, while the remaining six suffocated in the noxious smoke._

_ After her declaration of war against the World Government, this destruction of yet more Marine property is further proof that Gol D. Morgana is not a threat to be taken lightly. Indeed, the World Government just issued 'Gold' Morgana's first bounty. At One Hundred Million Beli, Morgana currently holds the record for the largest 'First Bounty' ever given in known history, outstripping the previous record holder, ex-Shichibukai, Empress of the Seas, Boa Hancock by twenty-million Beli._

_ With such an explosive start to her pirating career, we can only dare to imagine just how far her legend will go._'

The man on the little boat somewhere in East Blue let out an explosive sigh, dropped the newspaper onto his lap and allowed himself a moment in which to fall apart. Worry, fear and anxiety gripped him like a vice and began a three-way tug of war with his heart as the rope. After a minute, he began to gather himself, forcing the wash of emotions back until he could think rationally again. Morgana would be fine. She knew how to handle herself, and even if she did get in trouble, he knew he would not be the only one who would storm hell itself to get her back.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, deep in the Grand Line, another man was reading the same article with wide eyes. Gripping the newspaper a little too tightly, he turned on his heel and strode to the prow of the large ship, where his captain was, predictably, seated. "Captain!" He called, and the man sat atop the figure head looked round, smiled and jumped down to stand beside him.<p>

"What is it, Zoro?" He asked cheerfully, one hand easily holding his trademark straw hat safely on his head. Zoro wordlessly handed over the newspaper. His captain took it with a childish curiosity on his face and read the front page. As he read, a grin slowly spread across his face until he reached the end, at which point he sat down where he was and laughed uproariously, clutching his stomach with the newspaper still fisted in one hand.

After watching his captain for a while with an air of bemusement, Zoro eventually relented and sank to the floor, sitting cross-legged and frowning at his captain. "It's not that funny, Luffy." He said, wondering what on earth had got the man so amused.

"Yes-… it is!" Luffy gasped out between giggles. He made an effort to choke the laughter back and grinned at Zoro. "Imagine Sengoku's _face_ after reading _this_!" He declared, then collapsed into a gale of helpless laughter again. Zoro grinned, quite easily imagining the beetroot red face of the former Fleet Admiral as it contorted in rage and embarrassment. He snickered. "See? It _is_ funny!" Luffy insisted.

Another snicker escaped him before Zoro mellowed. "Check out who wrote the article." He said, jerking his chin towards the newspaper still crumpled in Luffy's fist. His captain glanced down, as if surprised to remember he was still holding it, then smoothed it out and scanned the page.

Suddenly, his eyes widened and he grinned again, looking up to beam at an equally beamish Zoro. "Merry!" Luffy looked back down at the article and his expression softened into fondness. "It's nice to hear about Gana." He said, sounding a little sad. "It's hard, not keeping in touch with her." He added.

Nodding, Zoro contemplated his captain. One wouldn't think that this man, this idiotically childish man was capable of carrying as many burdens as he did. He didn't look much like a 'Pirate King', but there was no denying that that is exactly what he was. "You could go pay her a visit, now that she's known to the World Government." Zoro suggested, though he had a feeling that Luffy wouldn't want to.

Just as Zoro predicted, Luffy shook his head. "No. If I show an interest in her, the Marines will get even more interested in her." He said. "If she wants to see me, she can come find me." He added, a smile spreading across his face. "And if she does, of course we'll welcome her. She's family, _nakama_." He stated firmly, and Zoro nodded. "But…" Luffy trailed off, his eyes going dark. "If the Marines think that they'll be able to arrest her without having to go through me first, they're in for a nasty surprise."

"Of course." Zoro agreed.

Then, in typical Luffy fashion, the darkness cleared from his face as his mood did a complete one eighty, and his very flighty attention jumped to a different topic. "Ne, ne, Zoro?" Looking up, Zoro raised an eyebrow to show his captain that he had his attention. "Was Gana's wanted poster delivered with the newspaper?" He asked brightly, and Zoro nodded, his smile widening as he thought he knew where Luffy was going with this. "Stick it up in my room, next to Ace's." Luffy ordered immediately. Zoro nodded and got to his feet, reaching out a hand to help Luffy up as well. Luffy took the outstretched appendage and jumped to his feet, unable to keep the smile off his face. Zoro smirked at him and stuck his hands in his pockets, feeling the anticipation that comes when history is about to be made in front of you.

"Aye, aye, Captain."

* * *

><p>In yet another part of the world, another man is only just arriving home. He had spent the last week out in the wilderness, camping with his eight year old son. They had woken up early, packed the tent and other things, and trekked home. With not enough sleep and a long walk right after he'd woken up, the poor boy was flaking considerably, so when they finally traipsed through the front doors he made a beeline for the comfiest couch and collapsed onto it, snuggling into the plush cushions without so much as a word of greeting to his mother, who had seen them arriving and rush to greet them.<p>

Seeing the way his wife was looking at their son in concern, the man put his arm around her and gave her a one-armed hug. "He's just tired. We were up at the crack of dawn to get back this early." He assured her. "Let him sleep for a while and he'll be up and bouncing off the walls in no time." He added.

Relieved, his wife turned to him and gave him a radiant smile and a welcome home kiss that she wouldn't have dared give him if any of their kids had been watching. When she pulled back, she was blushing, faintly embarrassed in engaging in a kiss when any of their kids could have seen. "I'm glad you're home safe." She told him, taking his hand and leading him into the kitchen so she could make him a proper breakfast and they could talk at the same time.

"Of course." Her husband said proudly, puffing out his chest. She smiled fondly as he launched himself into a rather tall tale about what he and their son had gotten up to in their week away. Personally, she doubted there was a colony of ginger midgets living in caves under this island, but she enjoyed the story anyway. When the story finally ended with the Great Usopp and Katsumi Saving the Day and Rescuing the Not-So-Fair Ginger Midget Princess from a Certain and Smelly Doom, her husband took a moment to catch his breath, before asking "Anything new happen while we were away?"

At this point, his wife began practically glowing with pride. "As a matter of fact." She said happily, abandoning the breakfast for a moment to fetch the two newspaper articles that would tell her husband everything he needed to know. She returned and handed them to him, pointing to the name underneath the front page title of the last couple of days' World Guardian.

"Merry got his stuff published in _World Guardian_?" Usopp asked, stunned for a moment before pride filled him to the brim. "That's my bo-" Usopp was cut off when he actually read the title of the first article and he choked on his own spit.

His wife patted his back gently with worried eyes. "Usopp? What's wrong?" She asked. Usopp shook his head, his watering eyes flashing from left to right as he speed-read the articles.

When he neared the end of the second article, he nearly choked again. "One- One _hundred million Beli_?" He gasped aloud. His wife noticed that his hands were shaking slightly, and she reached out and placed a concerned hand on his shoulder. He reached up with the opposite hand and covered her smaller, paler hand in his. He glanced up, met his wife's questioning gaze, and grimaced. "Sorry, um… I know Morgana… or _knew_, I should say." He told her.

After a moment of surprise, his wife sat herself down on the chair next to him. "How did you know her?" She asked, frowning slightly in curiosity.

Usopp gave a slightly wry smile. "Well, she is Luffy's niece." He pointed out, and his wife nodded in sudden realisation. "Didn't know her well, only met her the once when she was just a baby… But she was cute, really cute. And Ace and Luffy were really protective of her. She vanished when Ace died, and all Luffy would say was 'she's safe'. I just-… _A hundred million Beli_? Shit… And she declared war on the World Government… I thought only Luffy was stupidly brave enough to pull shit like that at seventeen."

"If I remember rightly, there was another brave seventeen year old who burnt down the World Government flag on his captain's orders." His wife reminded him with a fond smile. Usopp grinned goofily and reached out to hold her hand. "And if Luffy is as protective of her as you say he is, she doesn't have anything to worry about."

With a relieved, grateful smile, Usopp nodded. "I know, but I worry. They wanted Ace bad enough to risk war with Whitebeard to kill him… And now Morgana's back in the picture and declaring _war_ on the World Government, and Merry's out there in Loguetown on his own…"

"I know." His wife said softly, squeezing his hand. "But they'll be ok." She assured him, and Usopp squeezed her hand back to let her know that he was grateful for her words of comfort.

* * *

><p>On yet another ship, yet another man was found with that particular edition of the World Guardian in hand. After reading the article printed on the front page, he found himself laughing and crying at the same time. He leaned against the side of the ship, his elbows braced on the railings, and let the unnameable emotion pour out of him. Gripped in his hands so tightly he tore holes in the edges of it was the newspaper, speckled with the dark spots his tears had caused as they fell.<p>

After a while, the man raised a shaking hand to his face to rub at his eyes, still laughing weakly. He heard footsteps walking, hesitantly, over the deck towards him and pausing only a little way behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and gave a weak grin when he saw the man he'd named as his first mate frowning at him in mild concern. "Marco… Are you alright?" The other man asked warily.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, Jozu." He said, turning back to the expanse of clear blue ocean before him. The larger man stepped up beside him, offering a silent form of comfort and company that Marco deeply appreciated. With a nostalgic smile, he released the newspaper from his strangle-hold on it and slid it across the railing to Jozu, though he kept one of the brand new wanted posters in his hands, studying the picture on it.

There was silence as Jozu read the story, then the usually stoic man let out a small round of chuckles. "I see." Was all he said, but it made Marco grin and yet another chuckle forced its way out of the blonde.

"She looks just like him." Marco said, showing Jozu the wanted poster. For some reason he didn't quite understand, he found himself unwilling to actually let go of the poster, and kept a good tight grip on it as he held it up for the other man to look at.

A smile managed to make its way onto Jozu's face as he studied the photograph of Gol D. Morgana. "She always did." He commented. "Even as a baby." Grinning, Marco nodded. It was true. He remembered the year when Ace had been struggling to learn how to be a father. Everyone in the crew had helped out. Marco himself remembered spending a few nights on 'baby duty' so that Ace could get some desperately needed sleep. They had all gotten very attached to the little girl who looked just like a baby-Ace, who had an uncanny ability to find the hottest place on the ship, and made a habit of sleeping there. It had been heartbreaking to loose her to Smoker right after Ace had been killed.

Looking back down at the wanted poster, Marco felt the melancholy being swept away by a wave of fierce pride. Suddenly full to the brim with energy, Marco stood straight, turned on his heel and hurried towards the galley, where he knew the other Whitebeard Commanders would be currently indulging in breakfast. Jozu took one look on the grin spreading across his face, and followed, looking faintly amused.

Marco shoved the door to the galley open with a little more force than necessary, causing it to bang loudly against the wall. Though unintentional, it served the purpose of getting everyone's attention. The galley went silent as every face turned to Marco. The worry faded as they all took in the grin on his face, to be replaced by a burning curiosity. With a dramatic flourish, Marco held up the wanted poster in his hand.

There was a single heartbeat where everyone held their breath, disbelieving, uncertain, and wide-eyed. Then the room exploded with cheers and exclamations. Everywhere people were yelling, laughing, and a few of them even cried. Vista suddenly rose and declared that there was only one way to truly acknowledge Morgana's achievement, and that was with a good old fashioned party!

No one disagreed.

The booze was brought out and dished around, the cooks swamped by requests for massive amounts of party food. The commanders spilled out onto the main deck and the other pirates of the crew came to investigate the noise. Morgana's poster was passed around, her story bellowed from every corner as the rum and mead flowed in copious amounts and the music started up and the food began arriving. At first, talk was of Morgana's future, her stunningly impressive first bounty, her recklessness and other similar topics, but as the morning, and then the afternoon, wore on, talk turned instead to reminiscing of her time on the old Moby Dick. Though there was still laughter and cheerful talk all round, the mood became slightly mellower.

When a rather drunk Marco wobbled to his feet, tankard of rum in hand, every face turned to him and the chatter and music died. Without any preamble, he thrust his mug into the air, sloshing a little rum over the lip, which splashed down on Izo's head. Said man was too drunk to notice or care. "To Morgana!" Marco yelled, impressed with himself when he managed not to slur his words too much. Every pirate raised the tankard, or if they didn't have one, they thrust their fists into the air, and the answering roar was deafening.

"TO MORGANA!"


	4. Chapter 3: The Luck of the 'D'

_A/N: Well, here we have Chapter 3. I honestly don't know much about boats/ships etc. Everything I know about them I learned from Pirates of the Carribean and One Piece, so if I've made any mistakes in ship-anatomy or navigation or anything like that, let me know so I can fix it._

_We also see a bit of Morgana's serious side in this. I don't want her to become too serious, but obviously, she's not happy-go-lucky all the time. It's kinda hard to find the right balance... Morgana's a very passionate person; when she likes something, she _really_ loves it, when she does something, she throws her whole being into it, when she doesn't like something, she _hates_ it. But at the same time, I want her to keep a sense of... not quite innocence, but perhaps childishness about her, and I can't do that if she's angsting all over the place. Basically, I'd really like some feedback on Morgana's character development. Is it going too fast? Slow? Too extreme? Not extreme enough? Is it going in completely the wrong direction?_

_Whatever they are, I'd love to hear your thoughts. But now, on with the story~!  
><em>

* * *

><p>In the middle of the ocean, with no land in sight, there bobbed a small sailing boat. It was barely big enough to house the two people sailing it, but they managed. The sun was beating down mercilessly, and on the roof of the cabin a teen girl, now famous around the globe for being the heir to the Pirate King's legacy, was sunbathing. She stretched out in naught but a black bikini and smiled the smug smile of the victorious.<p>

A moment later, a blonde head popped up over the edge of the roof, and a moment later, a young man clambered up to join the young woman. "So, Morgana…?" He asked hesitantly, folding his legs beneath him and sitting cross-legged on the wooden boards. Morgana hummed agreeably to show he had her attention, but didn't open her eyes. "Where exactly are we going?"

"Grand Line, o'course." Morgana answered, sounding vaguely sleepy and extremely content.

"Oh, right…" Merry nodded slowly, his brain slowly processing the information. "Wait, WHAT?" He yelped, suddenly catching up with the short conversation and recognising what had been said by his infamous captain.

One dusky pink eye slid open a little, and Morgana squinted up at him in confusion. "We're going to the Grand Line." She said, a little slower than was strictly necessary. "You know, infamous sea of deadly terrors, the most dangerous sea in the world… the domain of the Pirate King?" She added, opening the other eye as well as the irises faded to a light brown.

There was a moment of silence as Merry closed his eyes and sucked in a deep, calming breath. "You mean to tell me… that you plan to go up Reverse Mountain… in this dingy?" He asked incredulously, opening his eyes again to stare at Morgana.

Said woman looked a bit indignant. "It's not a _dingy_, Merry." She protested. "It's a _boat_. Not quite a ship, I'll grant you, but you can hardly call it a dingy… that doesn't sound like a word anymore. Dingy." Morgana pulled a face at the word that had indeed lost all meaning after being repeated three times in the last minute.

Scowling at the avoidance of his question, Merry shuffled where he was sat and huffed out a sharp breath. "I'll call it a dingy all I want, if you're really intending to try tackling _Reverse Mountain_ in it!" He said sharply. "That, my dear Morgana, is what we call _insanity_, and I seem to remember you assuring me that, beyond your pyromania, you _aren't_ insane."

Morgana pondered this for a moment, then smiled sheepishly. "Perhaps a little insane, then." She amended.

With a groan, Merry dropped his head into his hand, elbow propped on his knee, and tried not to regret joining Morgana on her hair-brained journey. After a moment, he pulled himself together and worked himself up in order to argue his case with Morgana. "Look, Morgana, Reverse Mountain is very dangerous. A small boat like this isn't gonna make it. We need a bigger boat."

"Ah, but." Morgana said, holding up a finger dramatically. "A bigger boat needs a bigger crew, and you, Merry, are all the crew I've got." She said proudly, as if this was a good thing. Merry could only stare in disbelief.

Another groan escaped him, and he shook his head. "Then find more crew members!"

Morgana pouted. "But we've already left Lougetown, and there isn't another island before the Grand Line Spotlight and Reverse Mountain." She explained sullenly. "I don't want to turn around now! We need to get into the Grand Line _before_ people start forgetting about me. That means moving _as soon as possible_."

This caused Merry to gape at her for several seconds. "Are you telling me that you were planning on sailing up Reverse Mountain _on your own_?"

"Yep!"

"You _are_ insane!"

Staring at the teenage boy as he ran a frustrated, exasperated hand through his white-blonde hair, Morgana sat up and leaned back on her hands which she rested on the wood of the roof behind her. "I know it's dangerous." She said seriously, and Merry looked at her with pleading eyes. "I do know, but…" She sighed, then hunched forwards, curled her legs up until they were crossed and rested her elbows on her knees. "Most pirates are against the World Government because they're pirates, but me? I'm a pirate because I'm against the World Government. I don't have the luxury of disappearing for weeks or months at a time. I need to hit them hard and _keep_ hitting them hard until I win."

"You- Are you…" Merry sighed, frowning as he tired to solve the puzzle that was sitting before him. "Are you trying to overthrow the World Government?" He asked.

Morgana shot him a look that told him the answer to his question was stupidly obvious. She said it anyway. "Yes." There was no doubt in her voice, no waver because what she was committing to was impossible. There was only belief, conviction and utter determination.

"Why?" Merry asked, tilting his head to one side.

A bitter laugh burst from Morgana suddenly, causing Merry to jump a little. The serious, angry, pained expression on Morgana's face was so out of character for the usually cheerful, slightly insane girl that Merry wondered if it hadn't all been an act. "Why? Because they'd have my head on a spike whether I'm a model citizen or the worst scum imaginable. Why should I follow their rules, live under their shadow, when they'd have me killed, _erased_, because of who I was born to?" She glared at Merry, but the boy knew she wasn't really glaring at him, she just needed to vent. "I grew up on the run because my pops was so scared that I'd be _executed_, just like dad was. This government, _our_ government, would _kill_ a _baby_ in _cold fucking blood_, just because I carry the blood of the Pirate King! I didn't do anything wrong, I hadn't broken any laws, but just because I exist, just because I'm my father's daughter, they want me dead." She shrugged. "There's nothing I can't do, really. My sentence is death, no matter what I do. I could set the whole world alight, and they couldn't put a worse punishment on me."

Merry could see that her hands were shaking as she balled them into fists. "Morgana…" He said quietly, but she pretended she hadn't heard him.

"It's wrong. A child shouldn't be blamed for their parent's crimes. And this is just the tip of the dunghill. The whole system is corrupt. They rule with threats, lies and deceit. Pops told me that marines cut the surveillance snails at dad's execution, so they could kill him early. They didn't want people to see what they'd do, because it was underhand and dirty. They don't want people to know that they _are_ underhand and dirty, because they present the image of being clean and pure, it's the pirates that are the underhand cheats, but at least we don't _lie_ about it!

"I just… I'm not trying to destroy the whole system… yet…" She said, calming down enough to uncurl her hands and study her palms, which now had four crescent shaped cuts decorating each of them. She chuckled a little bit, but the sound was hollow. Merry suddenly noticed that her eyes were so black it was impossible to tell iris from pupil. He almost thought he could see flames flickering in their depths, but then he realised it was just the reflection of the sun.

It was amusing, Merry thought, that now that he understood Morgana's drive, the resignation to their chosen path didn't feel so bad. He sighed, shaking his head at himself. "Fine, Reverse Mountain it is." He agreed. Morgana glanced at him and beamed.

Eyes sparkling pink again, she punched the air and whooped. Merry chuckled, somewhat bemused by her sudden mood change, and watched as she flopped back against the roof of the cabin and smiled at the sky. After a little while, Merry too stretched out and lay back, pillowing his hands under his head and staring up at the clouds. "Ne, Merry?" Morgana asked suddenly, her voice quiet. "You think… dad would be proud of me? You think he'd… approve of my decision?"

Surprised, Merry looked over at Morgana. She refused to look at him, but kept her eyes on the sky. With a soft smile, Merry turned back to stare at the wide expanse of blue. "I don't really know, Gana, but from dad's stories about Fire-Fist Ace… I think he'd get it, he'd accept why you're doing it. And I think acceptance is more important than approval, anyway."

There was a sigh that was almost a laugh, and then a small fist knocked against his ribs hard enough for him to feel it, but not so hard that it actually hurt. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

* * *

><p>A few days passed comfortably aboard the small boat. Merry found that he was far more at ease around Morgana now that he had some small inkling of the feelings that drove her. That understanding that had blossomed between them had grown into something that was bordering on friendship. It was a surprisingly comforting feeling.<p>

All these thoughts and more swirled around in Merry's mind as he considered the dark horizon. He had agreed to keep watch that night so they could continue to sail through the wee hours of the morning. He had brought a lamp and the manuscript of his novel up onto the roof of the cabin and was working on it as the night drifted by.

Quite suddenly, a fierce glaring light lit up the area. Merry squinted directly into the light for a few seconds, his brain struggling to process what was going on. Then the light moved on, and he saw the beam sweep across the ocean. He felt an odd mixture of anticipation and fear curl in his gut and an exhilarated grin spread across his face. He knocked on the wood beneath him with the heel of his shoe. "Gana! I see the Spotlight!"

There was a squawk from inside the cabin, then a loud thump that Merry realised a moment later was Morgana falling out of her hammock. What followed was a lot of banging and cursing as Morgana struggled to dress herself as fast as possible. Then the cabin door was thrown open, causing it to bang loudly against the wall, and Morgana sped out onto the deck. Merry's eyes followed her as she rushed to the prow, while running her fingers through her hair in a slightly distracted motion to keep it out of her face. She lifted her goggles from around her neck with her free hand and snapped them into place on her forehead, to hold her hair out of her face as she watched the lighthouse with hungry eyes.

The light swept back over them, and Merry was forced to squint, his eyes all but closed, until the light passed. Morgana looked back at him, and Merry nodded in silent agreement. This was it. No turning back now. He quickly and silently gathered up his manuscript and toted it below deck, locking it safely in the bolted-down chest in the cabin.

Returning to the deck, Merry spotted Morgana in the same place she had been when he'd left, stood at the prow, eagerly leaning forwards as her eyes searched the dark horizon for a hint of the Red Line. He joined her there, and stood a little way behind her with his hands in the pockets of his slacks as they watched and waited. An hour drifted by with little changing, except the Spotlight Lighthouse drifting steadily away behind them. Then, all of a sudden, they saw it, looming out of the dark in front of them with little warning. Merry gasped.

It was a stunning sight. In the faint moonlight, the usually vibrantly red cliffs looked black. Merry's creative mind spewed forth analogies that made him shiver; the colouring of the cliffs and the way the moonlight affected them made them look as if they were stained by the blood of the countless fools who had lost their lives trying to enter the Grand Line. They were dark as pitch, blacker than the sky behind them or the sea below them, and Merry likened the scene to the one he imagined he would see if he were dead and approaching the underworld of Grecian mythology; The great black walls of Darkness rearing up before him as he made his unsteady way across the River Styx, the river of the damned.

Shaking himself out of his reverie, Merry turned his attention to the cliffs, and searched the dark walls for a sign of the gap that would lead them to the top of Reverse Mountain, and then down again into the Grand Line. For some of the longest minutes in Merry's life, he searched desperately and couldn't find anything, but then a darker-than-dark patch of the cliff caught his attention, and he saw the faint glimmer on the water as the pressure of the current forced it to go against it's nature and flow uphill.

"There!" Merry exclaimed, pointing.

Morgana nearly toppled over the prow of the boat as she leaned forwards, both hands resting on the edge of the ship and one foot in the air behind her to help her keep her balance. "I see it!" She exclaimed triumphantly, also pointing dramatically in front of them. There was a moment, where she nearly overbalanced, but Merry caught her by the back of her belt and steadied her. "Thanks." She muttered, grinning sheepishly but not taking her eyes off that small gap.

"You're welcome." Merry replied mildly, shoving his hand back in his pocket.

Silence filled the gap between them as they both returned to staring at the ever approaching Red Line. "We need to be more to port." Morgana said suddenly. "Get the tiller." She ordered, and Merry didn't need to be told twice. As he hurried for the back of the boat, Morgana swung herself round and bean adjusting the sail for their slight change in direction.

As he adjusted the tiller as per Morgana's orders, Merry had time to dwell on the way this life seemed to come so easily to Morgana. Out here, on the sea, in a tiny little boat, Morgana was in her element. When he had first set eyes on her, on top of that Marine Base, he had thought she cut a striking figure, surrounded by the flames and silhouetted against their blazing backdrop, but that was nothing compared to the easy confidence and radiant contentment she simply oozed when out at sea. There was a difference between the two, Merry acknowledged. In the middle of a blaze, Morgana was terrifying, but here on the open sea, Merry found it very hard _not_ to put his complete and utter faith in her. One made him want to grovel at her feet in fear, the other caused him to swell with a sudden upsurge of respect and a will to follow her to the ends of the earth and into the depths of hell itself.

Merry lost both his breath and footing as the boat lurched beneath him. The sail strained and ropes groaned as the wind picked up and the current caught them. They surged towards the gap and Merry, who had managed to reclaim his feet but not his breath, watched with wide eyes as they approached the tiny gap at speeds this boat really wasn't built for.

The deck tilted alarmingly beneath him, and Morgana, who was still straddling the crossbeam, clutched the top of the mast to save herself being thrown overboard. Her whoop of joy carried on the wind and reached Merry, and he laughed in disbelief. They were really on their way up to the top of Reverse Mountain.

Despite the exhilaration filling Merry as he watched the sky and the top of Reverse Mountain race ever closer, he also felt a huge sweeping wave of fear. The boat was groaning and complaining far too much. His heart thudded hard in his chest when he realised it wasn't going to last. "GANA!" He called over the rushing of the wind and the water and the boat's protests. He saw her turn, an expectant look on her face. "THE BOAT ISN'T GOING TO MAKE IT!" He yelled, cupping one hand around his mouth, while the other was gripping the tiller hard to keep it steady.

Morgana looked down at the boat, a frown on her face. When she looked up again, Merry was surprised to see a grim smile on her face. "YES SHE WILL." She declared fiercely, and Merry found he couldn't contradict her.

They made the rest of the trip up in silence. It seemed to last an age contained within only a few seconds. Merry got so used to the constant state of tension as the boat lurched and rose with the current, that when, all of a sudden, the boat was sailing free without any juddering, jarring motions, he couldn't quite work out what was going on. Then, with a horrible grating, scraping sound, the boat crashed back into the water, its hull catching on the edge of the channel as it fell, and Merry realised they must have been launched into the air. The collision, however glancing, with the edge of the river caused their little boat to careen sideways even as it began it's decent, and it smacked hard into the other wall. There was a terrifying crunch, and the boat rebounded back into the middle of the stream.

Without hesitating, Morgana crawled swiftly across the crossbeam, dropped off the end onto the deck and peered over the side at the hull of the ship. Merry nearly had a heart attack when her head missed a little spur of rock by mere inches. Morgana leaned back again, and grinned at Merry, giving him a thumbs-up sign. _Bloody sturdy boat_, Merry couldn't help but think in amazement. With sturdy legs and surprisingly good footing, Morgana leapt across to the other side and checked the boat over. 'She's born to be at sea' was the phrase that floated through Merry's head, and he made a mental note to jot that down in his notebook next time he had a hand free. Another thumbs-up sign from Morgana told him that that side of the boat was still whole as well, and he sighed in relief.

There was a ripping sound, and Merry watched in horror as one half of the sail was ripped from the cross-beam, causing the fabric to flap in the wind of their descent. Without the added resistance that half of the sail had provided, the boat tilted alarmingly, until it was going down the mountain as good as sideways. The tail end of the boat caught the cliff wall and grated along it for a moment, before the boat spun round and the front end crashed into the wall with a great splintering sound that made Merry go white.

Of course, true to form, Morgana had disregarded the violently flailing boat and reclaimed her post on the cross-beam, and was currently trying to furl the sail and rebalance the boat. As the front end smacked into the cliffs Morgana was thrown from her place, and it was only her iron grip on the sail that stopped her fro being flung off the boat entirely. As it was, she dropped slowly to the deck as the rest of the sail was ripped from it's fastenings by her weight.

The force of the current below them tore the free of the rocks digging into the front of the boat, and they were flung onwards. Feeling somewhat helpless, Merry watched Morgana fling herself below deck to deal with the hole that little incident had undoubtedly torn into the hull of the boat. Concentrating hard, Merry focused on the bottom of the mountain and did his best to keep the struggling boat from crashing into the walls.

Thankfully, the rest of the journey down the mountain passed relatively uneventfully, all things considered. Morgana returned to the deck, having done a quick patch job on the hole in the hull, and was occupied running about keeping the boat from capsizing. As they reached the bottom, the pair of them relaxed just a little too soon. Their boat caught the bottom of its hull on a rock hidden just below the surface of the water, having drifted just a little too close to the end of the peninsula. With a horrible sound of ripping, splintering wood, the boat slowed considerably, tilted violent, and threw the two of them off the deck.

For a moment, the world spun around Merry in a dizzying circle of stars and water and cliffs, and then, with an impact forceful enough to drive the breath from his lungs, he hit the surface of the water and began to sink. Instinct took over and Merry fought his way to the surface to gulp down deep breaths of air. He turned and watched as their boat groaned and began to sink. Fear gripped him when he realised his manuscript was still inside.

He was just about to throw caution to the wind and swim for the boat in the hopes of getting the precious story out before it sank, when he felt someone grab the back of his shirt. "Don't." Morgana said, tugging him away from the ship.

"But- My manuscript!" Merry cried frantically, his eyes wide.

Morgana's face was tight and strained. "A sinking ship acts like a black hole. It sucks everything around it down with it." She said in a hard voice. "You'll drown if you try to go over there now." Merry thought he saw the glitter of a tear in Morgana's eye, but it was probably just the sea water on her face.

Just at that moment, the boat gave a loud groan and stopped sinking. Half in and half out of the water, it stayed there, not moving. After an age of waiting, Merry and Morgana realised it wasn't going to sink any more, and they struck out together. They soon realised, however, that the force of the current was so strong that they wouldn't be able to get any closer, and they reluctantly turned for shore before they exhausted themselves entirely.

They hauled themselves up onto the peninsula which had a lighthouse built upon it, and collapsed on the hard ground, breathing hard. Morgana giggled, and Merry rolled over to stare at her in shock and bemusement. His captain grinned at him. "Told you we'd make it to the bottom." She declared smugly.

Merry could only roll his eyes with an exasperated smile.


	5. Chapter 4: Hitching a Ride

_A/N: I'm so sorry about missing last weeks update. Real Life reared it's ugly head and between college, panic attacks, this lovely economic depression we're going through and a horrid bout of writer's block, I didn't have any time or motivation to write or update. Again, I'm terribly sorry to all of you looking forward to an update last week, and I hope this chapter appeases you somewhat._

_I barely remember the beginnings of One Piece, so if the places and characters are a little off, that's why. Roger bless the One Piece wiki. I would have been utterly lost without it. Still, if you notice anything that's glaringly wrong, let me know so I can fix it._

_Without further ado, on with the story~!  
><em>

* * *

><p>It wasn't until she woke that Morgana realised she had drifted off to sleep, lying on the water's edge of Twin Capes. However, when she did blink her eyes open blearily, she found that she wasn't where she expected to be. Instead of sky, she saw a whitewashed ceiling. Instead of hard, dusty ground, she was lying on something soft. She even had a blanket draped over her. After blinking a couple of times to clear the sleep from her eyes, she looked around. She was in what seemed to be a living room, decorated simply but somewhat cluttered with junk.<p>

Groaning, she levered herself up and stretched, humming in contentment when her back popped and stopped aching. It was only then that she noticed voices floating up the spiral staircase in the middle of the room. Frowning, she lowered her arms and listened. It sounded, though she couldn't be sure, like Merry was in the room below, talking quite animatedly to someone.

True to her nature, Morgana didn't sit there doing nothing for a moment longer than necessary, and leapt up, tossing the blanket over the back of the sofa she'd been lying on and made her way down the spiral staircase. It led her down into a kitchen, and it didn't take her long to spot Merry sat at what appeared to be the main table, nursing a mug of something that was steaming gently, and talking to an old man who was listening intently, nodding every so often.

When Morgana's feet hit the tiled floor, the pair of them looked up. The old man's face didn't give anything away, but Merry smiled. "Hey, Morgana, you're up!" He said happily, pushing a third chair out for her with his foot. "You sleep like the dead, you know." He added, looking highly amused. "I can't believe you slept all the way through the morning." Grinning sheepishly as she sat down, Morgana could only shrug to that. "Ah, this is Crocus. He looks after the Twin Cape lighthouse." Merry introduced. "He brought us inside after we passed out."

"Thanks." Morgana said brightly, beaming at Crocus. "I'm Gol D. Morgana. Pleasure ta meet'cha!" She declared, holding out her hand for the old man, Crocus, to shake. He did, squinting at her thoughtfully, before he rose and began bustling about at the counters on the other side of the room. Morgana turned back to Merry. "What were you two talking about?" She asked curiously.

"Oh, that?" Merry asked casually. "Well, it turns out Crocus knows my dad. We were just swapping stories, I guess." He told her with a shrug.

"Your dad?" Morgana echoed, realising she didn't know all that much about Merry's family.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. My dad used to be a pirate." Merry stated, looking down at his mug. Morgana perked up, settling into her chair and giving Merry an expectant look that was practically begging for details. With a little snort of amusement, Merry sighed and tried to think of where to start. "He tells loads of really tall stories, so it's kind of hard to tell which bits are true, and which bits are just fabrications." He warned her, and Morgana nodded eagerly.

Just as Merry was about to continue, Crocus returned to the table and plonked a mug of piping hot tea in front of Morgana. "He came down the Mountain when he was barely seventeen, just like you two fools." His voice was harsh, but when Morgana glanced up, she saw something akin to fondness on his face. "He was a right yellow-bellied coward then." He added, sounding almost scathing. "But he grew up, like everyone does… It seems to happen faster on the Grand Line than anywhere else." He paused. "Oi! Careful, girl. That's hot." He warned suddenly, jolted out of his thoughts when Morgana raised her mug to her lips, fully intending to gulp down about half of the tea inside in one go.

She did. Pressing the rim of the mug to her lower lip, she tilted it back and took three quick swallows before lowering it back to the table, smirking slightly. "I know." She told him mildly.

Crocus watched her for a moment, before rolling his eyes. "I don't wanna know." He told her bluntly, before turning the conversation elsewhere. "I'm indebted to your father in the other Straw Hat Pirates." He told Merry. "So if you need anything…"

"Thank you." Merry said, nodding. He was about to open his mouth and phrase his request, when Morgana interrupted him.

"Your dad was a member of the Straw Hat Pirates?" She yelped, eyes wide. Merry nodded, looking a little uncertain at her reaction. "That is so cool! That makes us practically family!"

This caught Merry off guard. "Huh? How?"

"Well." Morgana stated in a tone that suggested she thought Merry was missing something very obvious. "Luffy's my uncle. And your dad is one of Luffy's _nakama_." She explained patiently, giving Merry a rather expectant look as she waited for him to understand. He did, and his eyes widened before a smile spread across his face.

"I didn't think of it like that." He confessed, looking a little amused. There was a moment of silence, but then Merry's eyes widened comically. "Oh! I forgot! Crocus went and got our stuff off our ship while we were sleeping." Merry said, shoot a small smile of thanks to Crocus, who just waved a hand in the air as if dismissing his gratitude. "It's all in those rucksacks over there." Merry added, pointing to three large bags sitting near the door.

Morgana's smile was one of utter relief. "Thank you!" She said to Crocus, who once again just waved her off. "So your book's all safe, then?" She checked with Merry, who nodded once, ducking his head to hide a blush. "And did you find a jitte, wrapped in a green blanket in there?" She asked of Crocus.

Nodding, Crocus pointed to the bag nearest the door. "It should be near the top." He said.

They didn't have time to blink before Morgana had pounced on the bag and drawn out a dirty green coloured lump of cloth. She returned to the kitchen table, hugging the lump to her chest in relief. "What's in there?" Merry asked, leaning forward a little in his curiosity.

"A sea-stone coated jitte." Morgana told him, carefully laying the bundle on the table and beginning to unwrap it. "It was a present from Pops, so… I don't want to loose it, you know?" She added, glancing up at Merry, who nodded. The last fold of blanket fell away to display a weapon that was about as long as Merry's arm, not including the hilt. The shorter prong was only a third of the length of the main part, which had a turquoise sheen to it that Merry assumed was the sea-stone.

"It's beautiful." Merry breathed, eyeing the weapon. The hilt complimented the sea-stone colouring perfectly, as it was wrapped in dark green leather for a good grip. "Why don't you carry it with you?" Merry suddenly asked, his eyes flicking up to Morgana's as the thought occurred to him. "If you kept it on you, then you wouldn't be so likely to loose it." He added.

"I would…" Morgana said in a slightly resigned tone. "But I'm allergic to sea-stone."

"Allergic?" Merry echoed.

With a nod, Morgana began wrapping the jitte up again. "Yeah. It's the best way to describe it. I think it's probably part of the whole not-quite-a-Devil's-Fruit-user thing." She stated. "Touching it doesn't stop me being fireproof or anything, but… sea-stone is the only substance in the world that can burn me, as far as I know." Once the jitte was wrapped up again, she pulled it back to her chest and held on to it.

Understanding dawned, and Merry nodded slowly, turning this new information over in his mind. He said nothing more about it, however, and the conversation drifted. "I hope you've at least got a Log Pose." Crocus grumbled at one point after lecturing the pair of them about how irresponsible it was to try and tackle Reverse Mountain alone.

Merry's heart sank, but before he could say anything, Morgana nodded, giving Crocus an impatient look that clearly said he was being stupid. "Of course we do." She said slowly, rolling her eyes. "I bought one before I left Lougetown. I think it's in with my toothbrush somewhere…" Morgana looked over the back of her chair at the bags as if the Log Pose would leap out if she stared at it hard enough.

"But a Log Pose is no use without a ship." Merry pointed out. "We're stuck here, unless you have a boat you could lend us or something, Mr. Crocus?" He asked, turning inquisitive, hopeful eyes on the old man.

Adopting a thoughtful expression, Crocus didn't answer for a very long time. Eventually, Morgana cleared her throat a little and 'accidentally' nudged him, just to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep. "I don't have a boat for you, per say…" Crocus admitted and Morgana's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "But I think I can get you to the next island, at least. You should be able to buy a ship there." He added.

"How?" The excitement in Morgana's voice was clear, and Merry almost laughed at the way she was bouncing on the edge of her seat.

The only response they got was an enigmatic smile as Crocus got to his feet and walked outside. Sharing a bemused look, the two teens surged to their feet and hurried after him. At the sight they found awaiting them outside, however, they froze in the doorway, unable to do anything other than gape with stunned expressions on their faces. "Whoa…" Morgana breathed, her eyes locked on the unbelievably huge and impressively scarred whale floating by the shore, staring balefully at the comparatively tiny figure of Crocus.

"It must be Laboon." Merry muttered.

"Who?" Morgana breathed back, not quite willing to take her eyes off the incredible sight before her to look at Merry.

Giving Morgana a little push out of the doorway so they could both step out into the sunlight, Merry explained. "Laboon. My dad used to tell stories about a whale he met at Twin Capes." He frowned as he tried to remember the story. "They got swallowed, I think, and they met Crocus, who has a house inside Laboon's stomach… And they… I remember something about this evil organisation that wanted to eat Laboon, and they protected him, and it turned out the girl they fought off was actually a Princess on an undercover mission to-" Morgana finally dragged her eyes away from Laboon to gape at Merry. He blushed, grinned sheepishly, and shrugged. "But then again, my dad does tend to embellish things… a lot…" He said hastily.

With a snort of amusement, Morgana turned back to the whale, just in time to see Crocus beckon them over. They hurried over to join him, and found that Laboon looked even more gargantuan at these close quarters. "Laboon, meet Morgana and Merry!" Crocus hollered up at the whale, who gave a low moan in reply that reverberated up through Morgana's feet from the ground. "Do you think you could take them to the nearest island, eh?" Crocus asked, nearly shouting to make sure the large whale heard him.

Another low, musical moan made the ground vibrate, and Morgana looked at Crocus curiously. "What did that mean?" She asked, her eyes wide and hopeful.

Crocus smiled. "He said of course." He told the pair of them, and the two teens beamed at each other. "You can stay here another night, then set off tomorrow." He added.

"Thanks." Morgana said happily, then she turned to Laboon and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Thank you, Laboon!" She called up to him, and in response, the large whale gave another, slightly softer call, and Morgana beamed.

The three of them retreated back into the lighthouse to finish their tea. Afterwards, Crocus disappeared outside, Morgana assumed to talk to Laboon some more about tomorrow, but she didn't follow this time. After a few minutes of watching the sea through the window, Merry rose and made his way over to the bags with their stuff in. He rummaged through them for a moment, then pulled out a square parcel wrapped in a waterproof oilskin. He returned to the table, blushing a little under Morgana's inquisitive look, and unwrapped it.

What he revealed was a thick pile of paper, all tied together through holes punched in the side, with a piece of leather-bound cardboard on top and underneath. "Is this your book?" Morgana asked, staring at it eagerly.

"Yeah." Merry said, sounding a little sheepish. "Well, just the first draft, really. I suppose it's more like a journal than an actual book yet." Morgana looked up at him curiously. Merry smiled, looking embarrassed and pleased in equal measure. "When I fill the whole thing up, I'm gonna rewrite it as a proper book and get it published. Kinda like an autobiography, I guess but… I want it to read like a novel." He told her. "The story of my adventures out here on the Grand Line."

"Wow." Morgana muttered, sounding impressed.

"I started it when I left home, I didn't really think there'd be much to write about, but I knew I wanted to remember as much detail as I could, so…" He patted the cover before grabbing a pencil and flipping the book open. "And now I've got so much to write about I think it's gonna fill up rather quickly, thanks to you." He said to Morgana, who beamed.

"Happy to help!" She declared, smiling proudly as she got to her feet. "I'm gonna get some practice in." She told him, patting the blanket her jitte was wrapped in before beginning to pull the layers of fabric away. "Pops taught me how to use it, but I don't want to get rusty."

"Of course." Merry agreed, nodding a little absently as he had already begun to scribble away in his book. Trying to hold back a smirk, Morgan picked up the jitte and stepped outside. A little puzzled by the fact she couldn't see Crocus anywhere, she paused to look about more thoroughly. When, again, she couldn't spot him, she shrugged it off. It was no business of hers what he did with his time.

For the rest of the afternoon, Morgana practiced with the jitte. It made her a little melancholic, as the last time she had done this she had been fighting against her pops, a last test before she made her way on her own to the Grand Line. Still, the movements and forms calmed her, and it was with a soft smile that she retreated back inside. Sometime while she'd been lost in a daze of practicing moves she knew off by heart, Crocus had reappeared, and Merry had stopped writing to help the old man with dinner.

That evening's meal was a fun affair. They talked and laughed and shared stories about their pasts. On thing Morgana was shocked to learn was that Crocus had been her grandfather's doctor for the last four years of his life. At her request, he told her as much as he could about the man who instigated the Great Age of Pirates.

When she curled up in a large armchair, having bullied Merry into taking the couch, that night to sleep, her head was buzzing. Her grandfather was her idol, though she knew her Dad had hated him, but she had never thought of him as a real person, who had lived and loved and fought on the very sea she was about to sail. It was at the same time very sobering and extremely exciting. She was going to follow in the footsteps of great men, not only her grandfather, but her father, and her uncle, Whitebeard, Akagami Shanks, Eustass Kidd, Trafalgar Law, Basil Hawkins and all those other big names. She would be treading the same path, sailing the same sea, and she was determined to make them proud.

Sat there, in the dark of Crocus's living room, Morgana finally gave a name to the ambition that had been driving her since her seventeenth birthday.

"I'm gonna be the Pirate King."


	6. Chapter 5: Inferno Pirates

_A/N: Unfortunately, due to my life deciding to kick me in the - metaphorical! - balls, I think this 'update once every fortnight' pattern in going to become the norm. I'm sorry to delay the chapters for a week, but this way, I've got enought time to get another chapter all finished and prettied up for you without stressing._

_I'm not sure how much I like this chapter, to be honest. I've been looking forward to writing it for so long that it's sort of fallen short of my expectations, and I honestly don't think I've done it justice. One Inherited War is finished, I may come back and rewrite it, but for now, it's staying like this (especially as this is already the third version). I hope you like it more than I do._

_On with the story~!_

* * *

><p>"So dad really wasn't bullshitting, huh…?" Merry mused. He was stood on what appeared to be a tiny, grassy island with a single house at its center. In reality, Merry doubted you could call it an island, as it wasn't connected to the seafloor, nor was it even floating in the sea. They were, as his father had described often when telling bedtime stories, in the stomach of a huge whale.<p>

A soft snort of mirth caught his attention and he turned to regard Morgana, who was entertaining herself by dipping blades of grass in the stomach acid and watching them dissolve. She was lying on her stomach, her elbows propped on the very edge of the island. "You think the rest of the story's true too?" She asked, eyes flashing with excitement.

"I dunno. Probably, but with dad… you can never tell." Merry admitted, dropping down to sit beside her. Morgana laughed again, and watched as another stalk of grass was disintegrated in the pool of acid.

After a moment of quiet, Morgana huffed and rolled onto her back, pouting. "I'm _bored_. Why aren't we there yet?" She demanded grumpily.

Chuckling in exasperated amusement, Merry shook his head. "Crocus said it could take up to two weeks, and it hasn't even been a week yet." He reminded her mildly. "If you're that bored, though, just take a nap or some-…" Merry stopped when, upon hearing a soft snore from Morgana, he realised she was already asleep. "-thing…" He finished, looking highly amused.

Merry went back inside the house to retrieve a chair, which he propped on the lawn beside Morgana. Pulling out something to lean on, some paper and a pen, he settled down to write a letter to his parents.

It was some time later when he was pulled from his letter by an odd sound. He glanced at Morgana, but she was still snoozing away on the grass. "Excuse me?" Merry looked up, startled, and saw to his utter amazement, a small boat drifting towards the house. There was a young man sat in it, paddling furiously with a semi-disintegrated oar. He leapt up from his chair, just in time to catch the end of a rope that the young man had tossed. Understanding, Merry pulled, and the boat began to move much more swiftly towards the little island.

A few minutes later, the man from the boat was lying on the grass next to Morgana, his boat sinking fast now that the bottom had dissolved completely. "Are you alright?" Merry asked, crouching down beside the man as Morgana began to wake. The man nodded, looking resigned. Morgana sat up quickly, eyes wide.

"Who are you?" She yelped, before pausing and actually taking a good look at the man. He was actually stunningly good looking. His hair was long, but not as long as Merry's and a rich, warm sea blue. His skin was sun-kissed, a few lighter coloured scars showing on his bare arms, which were toned to perfection. He was dressed in a simple white tank top with dark brown trousers and sturdy sandals on his feet. There was also a black bandana around his neck and a single golden hoop in his left ear. His eyes were a dark, forest green, and they swivelled to look at Morgana.

"I'm Adonis." He said simply.

"And how are you _here_?" Morgana asked, eyes wide.

A hand landed on her shoulder, and she looked over at Merry. "I would think Laboon swallowed him."

"Laboon?" Adonis asked, slowly sitting up and folding his legs beneath him. As he sat up, Morgana noticed that not all his hair was as short as she originally thought. At the nape of his neck was a small rattail that hung nearly to the floor. Adonis bowed his head, hands resting on his knees. "Is that the whale?" He asked quietly.

"Yep." Morgana answered, nodding. "He's taking us to the next island cause our ship got stuck on a rock at the bottom of Reverse Mountain." She said quite cheerfully.

"Oh. Well, thank you for saving me." Adonis said, his voice still only just audible, it was that quiet. "I'm… in your debt." He added, bowing his head further. Merry and Morgana exchanged bemused looks. "If there's anything I can do to repay you, just say the word."

"It's ok, really." Merry said quickly, holding up his hands. "We don't need any repayment. We were happy to help."

"You're too kind." Adonis murmured.

Morgana huffed out a breath. "If you really want to repay us, tell us how you came to be out on the Grand Line in a little row boat, ok?" She suggested.

Adonis glanced up at her, his dark eyes wide and a blush dusting his cheeks. "Um, well… I ran away from home, and I was planning on finding an island and getting a job… I wanted to make my own way, but… my Log Pose broke." He said with a self-deprecating chuckle. "Next thing I knew, the whale… uh… Laboon?" Morgana nodded. "-had swallowed me."

"Why did you run away from home?" Morgana asked curiously, tilting her head to one side.

"I didn't want to impose any longer."

Morgana scowled, looking indignant. "Impose?" She echoed. "They're your _parents_!" Adonis looked up at her and his expression was one of polite puzzlement. "Parents are supposed to love their children… no matter _what_." Morgana declared with a pout.

Adonis' eyes widened. "Oh, no, they did love me. But they're both incredible pirates and I don't want to get in their way. They won't miss me all that much, don't worry." He assured her, apparently thinking that his words would placate her.

"That's not what I'm worried about!" Morgana yelped. "No offence, but your folks seem kinda shitty."

"Not at all." Adonis said earnestly. "They were very good to me. I was lucky they took such good care of me." He insisted. Morgana let out a strangled, inarticulate sound of frustration and rose to her feet, stomping off into the house. Adonis watched her go and turned back to Merry. "Um… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset her." He said sincerely.

His expression somewhere between exasperated and amused, Merry just shook his head. "You didn't." He assured him. "I think it was your parents that upset her." He added.

"Oh. Then… I shall refrain from mentioning them again." Adonis decided, bowing his head again. He looked up again, towards the house. "Perhaps… do you think I ought to apologise?" He wondered. Merry shrugged, and Adonis gave a determined nod and rose to his feet. "Thank you, again." He added. With a roll of his eyes, Merry waved him off, and Adonis turned and began walking towards the house.

He pushed open the door tentatively, and saw Morgana sat on a chair at the kitchen table, cradling her hand to her chest and looking pissed off. "Um… I'm sorry." Adonis said quietly.

Morgana jumped and looked round. "Oh, hey. What are you apologising for?" She asked, shooting him a bewildered look.

"For… well, upsetting you." Adonis said with a small, self-conscious shrug. He smiled hesitantly at her.

To his surprise, she laughed. "Oh, it's fine. I wasn't really upset. Just a little frustrated. My pops has always taken real good care of me, and I just… I think all kids should have someone who loves them unconditionally. It's a real nice feeling, you know? Knowing someone's got your back, no matter what." She looked up at him and grinned.

Adonis smiled back in relief. He pointed to the chair beside her. "Do you mind if I-" Morgana just shook her head, and he sat down, leaning his elbows on the table. "It would be nice." He agreed, referring to what Morgana had said. "But it's not so bad, being alone." Morgana gave a small shrug, her expression saying she only half agreed with that statement. The movement, however, drew Adonis' attention to her hand, which was still curled up against her chest. "Are you hurt?" He asked, frowning in concern.

"Oh, yeah. I just burnt myself. No biggie." Morgana said with another shrug.

"You ought to run cold water over it." Adonis suggested, rising half-way to his feet.

"It won't help." Morgana said, waving for him to sit down. "It's not a normal kind of burn." She told him, holding out her hand. Adonis studied her hand and his eyes widened. Across the back all four fingers, just above her palm, there was an ugly, purple-red burn. Looking up at Morgana, Adonis' eyes begged for an explanation, so Morgana explained all about her being fire-proof and the penalty she had to pay for that, as well as her sea-stone coated jitte.

"Don't-… Don't you have a sheath for it?" Adonis asked curiously.

Morgana shook her head. "Nope."

"Oh." Adonis paused, considering her hand with a worried frown decorating his brow. "Well, you should at least wrap it." He said, reaching up to undo the bandana around his neck. "To stop you damaging the skin further." He took her hand and wrapped the bandana round her knuckles, tying it with a small, neat knot.

Glancing up, Morgana shot him a grateful grin. "Thanks."

Adonis gave a small, one-shouldered shrug and smiled a little. "Anytime." He replied easily.

It wasn't much later that Merry appeared in the doorway, and proceeded to join them at the kitchen table just as Morgana spoke up again. "So… your folks are famous pirates, huh?" She asked curiously. Adonis seemed a little hesitant to answer, but he nodded slowly.

"Do they have Wanted Posters?" Merry asked, leaning forwards. In his mind, he was running through all the wanted posters he'd collected, trying to see if any of the pirates he knew of resembled Adonis in any way.

"Uh, yes, I believe so." Adonis said slowly, and Merry leaned forwards, his eyes wide and eager. "Um… have you heard of Iron Mace Alvida?" He asked, and Merry sat back with a thump, a stunned expression crossing his face. "And Buggy the Clown."

"Never heard of 'em." Morgana stated, looking a little put out.

Quite suddenly, Merry burst out laughing. The other two looked at him like he was insane. "I'm sorry-!" He gasped out, waving a hand in the air and clutching his stomach with the other. "It's just-" He paused, to get his breath back and collapsed into another fit of giggles. "Alvida and Buggy?" Adonis nodded, looking uncertain. "'f-famous p-pirates'? Their bounty _combined_ is only thirty-million beli!"

Now Morgana looked unimpressed. "Only thirty? That sucks."

Instead of being offended, as Merry rather expected he would be, Adonis simply looked confused. "They always said the marines were underestimating their strength."

Forcing himself to calm down, Merry shrugged. "Well, I doubt that. Bounties aren't just about how strong you are. It's about how bad the government wants you. Of course, they stronger you are, the _more likely_ you are to get a higher bounty, but it doesn't always correlate." Pausing, Merry found both Adonis and Morgana staring at him, their eyes urging him to go on. "Have either of you heard of Demon Child, Nico Robin?" He asked, and got two avid nods in return. "Well, she's a perfect example of someone who isn't particularly strong getting a large bounty. She was eight years old when she got her first bounty of seventy-nine-million beli. She was a kid, not really a threat strength-wise, but she could read Poneglyphs, and _that_ was what made them want her so badly."

"I see." Adonis nodded with eyes wide.

"And Morgana here-" Merry continued, gesturing towards said girl, who perked up, grinning and looking insanely proud of herself. "-I'm willing to bet half her bounty is because she's related to Gol D. Roger."

With an undignified, startled squawk, Adonis toppled off his chair in shock. Leaning over the table, Morgana peered down at him in curiosity and concern. "Y-You're… related to the Pirate King?" He yelped, eyes wide.

Beaming with pride, Morgana nodded. "Yep. I am the granddaughter of Gol D. Roger, daughter of Portgas D. Ace, niece to Monkey D. Luffy, and my head's worth one-hundred-million beli; Gol D. Morgana." She stuck out her hand. "It's a pleasure ta meet'cha."

Somewhat dazed, Adonis took her hand and shook it. Then, to his surprise, Morgana gave a great tug and heaved him off the floor. Once he was on his feet, Morgana released him and Merry spoke up. "And I'm Merry, journalist for the World Guardian and the first of Morgana's pirate crew."

"It's a pleasure." Adonis said quietly, sounding slightly stunned as he resumed his seat.

Morgana was barely listening to the pleasantries. "I just thought!" She exclaimed, drawing both boy's attention to her. "We really need a name, and a flag, and stuff!" She pointed out, ignoring Merry's mumble of 'and a _ship_'. "'Morgana Pirates' sounds stupid, so that's out. We could be the 'Gold Pirates'?" She suggested half-heartedly.

Shrugging, Merry made a so-so gesture with his hand. "I think it ought to be a little… less obvious than that. Something with a hidden message in it." Here, Merry smirked a little. "Like an inside joke, but cooler."

With a small snort of laughter, Morgana nodded. There was silence at the table as they tried to think. Surprisingly, it was Adonis that spoke up first. "What about Phoenix Pirates?" He suggested, a little timidly. "Because of your immunity to fire and the whole 'rebirth' thing ties in with the Pirate King's bloodline coming back to haunt the marines." He explained when Morgana looked at him curiously.

"It does sound good, but it's already being used." Merry stated, and Morgana deflated, slumping in her chair and pouting. "The Phoenix Pirates' Captain is called Puzzle, and they formed about twenty… twenty-two years ago."

Morgana glanced at Merry, looking somewhat incredulous. "_How_ do you know all that off the top of your head?" She demanded.

Ducking his head to hide a sheepish smile, Merry tried to ignore the faint blush creeping up his neck. "Collecting Wanted Posters was… _is_ something of a hobby of mine." He confessed, to which Morgana looked rather impressed. Another thoughtful silence fell over them, this time to be broken by Merry. "How about Inferno Pirates?" He suggested suddenly, making the other two jump. "Obviously, because of you being fire-proof, but also, it starts the same as infinity, which seems like a nice way to thumb our noses at the marines."

There was silence for a moment, before Morgana burst out laughing. "Yes!" She declared happily. "That's it! We are the Inferno Pirates!" She announced proudly. After half a second of thought, she sprang up and returned to the table a few minutes later with three tankards of rum in one hand. She placed two on the table and pushed them over to the boys, then she raised her own. "To the Inferno Pirates! Kampai!"

Glancing at each other, Merry and Adonis smiled and raised their own tankards so they met, with Morgana's in the middle. Some of the rum sloshed over the edges of the cups, but none of them really cared or bothered to clean it up at that moment.

"KAMPAI!"


	7. Chapter 6: Popular Opinion

_A/N: Ok, this chapter was horribly difficult, but I'm actually quite pleased with how it turned out. I'm not all that experienced when it comes to writing fight/action scenes, so if there's anthing you notice that doesn't flow right or that I've done wrong, let me know . My forte in writing is romance, which there is a conspicuous lack of in this fic. What was I thinking when I started this? XD_

_Anywho, on with the story!_

* * *

><p>It was a relief to find that the port where Laboon dropped them off was Pirate-friendly, if anything about the place could be described as friendly, that is. It wasn't a pleasant place. The Marine base located there was small and understaffed, and the men working there had long ago given up trying to bring justice to this veritable ant's nest of pirates. It was with a mild tone of disgust that Morgana delivered this news to the other two after a brief recon mission. There was far less disgust all round when she also produced three meat pies that she'd bought.<p>

Their arrival had caused something of a stir in the town, as it wasn't every day that the heir to the world's greatest legacy turned up in your port in a whale of all things. So as they sat there on the wharf, watching Laboon retreating back to Twin Capes while they ate their pies, they were being watched by a crowd of curious natives.

The longer they sat there doing nothing but eating, the bolder the crowd became. One little boy, perhaps no older than seven, darted out of his mother's hold and stopped a short distance away from Morgana. Said girl looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Are you really the reincarnation of Fire-Fist Ace here to overthrow the World Government and bring chaos and destruction to the known world?" He asked brightly. While Morgana blinked in shock and tried to formulate an answer, Merry laughed. This caught the boy's attention and he turned to Merry. "And you're that journalist who ran away with her because your girlfriend dumped you, aren't you?"

Now Morgana was laughing, and Merry could only gape at the little boy. "Uh… not exactly." He said slowly.

The boy pouted. "Oh… So who are you, then?" He demanded.

"I am Gol D. Morgana, _daughter_ of Fire-Fist Ace, here to overthrow the World Government and bring truth and justice to the known world." Morgana declared dramatically. Then she winked at Merry. "And you can quote me on that."

"And I am just a humble journalist, following a great pirate around in the hopes of making a living." Merry added, laughing.

They waited in silence for the boy's verdict, but instead of giving one, he looked to Adonis with a raised eyebrow. Adonis, with wide, scared eyes, held up his hands in surrender. "Um, I'm not- I'm just nobody." He said quickly.

The boy was about to protest that he couldn't be nobody if he was hanging out with a revolutionary-slash-pirate, but Morgana spoke up before he could. "Don't be silly." She announced, slinging an arm around Adonis's shoulders and beaming at the boy. "This here is my newest crew member, Adonis."

At the same time that the boy said 'Cool!' Adonis squeaked "What?"

"You don't want to?" Morgana asked.

"No, no! I didn't mean that, I just-" After a moment more of spluttering, Adonis subsided into a blushing silence. Finally, he drew in a deep breath and quietly said "I'm honoured."

"Good!" Morgana exclaimed, before turning back to their young audience. "There you have it!" She said enthusiastically. "Now get back to your mum before she has a heart attack, ok?" She added, and the boy nodded and scampered off back to his mother, who immediately began scolding him while dragging him away, shooting the three pirates nervous looks.

"So, Captain. What's the plan?" Merry asked mildly, before popping the last of his pie into his mouth and wiping his fingers on the napkin that came with it.

As she currently had her mouth stuffed full of pie, Morgana took a moment to answer as she chewed and swallowed her food. "Well, first things first, we find a cheap place to stay. Then tomorrow, you and Adonis can go looking for ships while I… go _fishing._" She said with an anticipatory gleam in her eyes. Merry knew she didn't mean the kind of fishing that needed a rod and bait, but the kind that required a lighter and something highly flammable.

"Alright." Merry agreed, while Adonis nodded.

They sat in companionable silence for a while, mulling over their own plans for the next day while they finished off their pies. Merry was just about to suggest they get moving and find a place to stay, when something hit the cobbles beside him and shattered. There was a stinging pain in his forehead and upper arm, and he felt something warm trickling down the side of his face. Raising his fingers to his cheek, Merry then drew them away to look at the liquid on them. It was blood. A second look at the shattered missile revealed it to be a bottle of some sort.

The sound had caused Morgana to whip round, and a glower became apparent on her face. "What the hell?" She demanded loudly, and Merry turned to follow her gaze. A trio of men were stood not far off, guffawing amongst themselves. "Are you looking for a fight or something?" Morgana demanded angrily.

The three men sauntered over. From the way they were walking, Merry knew that they were definitely drunk. "Yer that- that Gold Morgana person, ain't ya?" The man who spoke was extremely rotund and rather grimy looking.

"Yes, I am." Morgana replied coolly, looking highly unimpressed. "What's it to you?"

Another of the men, this one with a very ugly burn scar over one side of his face, spat at Morgana's feet. "You're disgusting." He snarled, glaring at Morgana.

"_She's_ disgusting?" Merry asked, pulling a face, and moving his foot very deliberately away from the little patch of spittle on the sidewalk.

Scarface cast Merry a look of deepest loathing. "You shouldn't be alive." He snarled at Morgana. "Your whole family's made of scum, and you're scum too. You shouldn't have been born at all." He spat viciously.

In a movement so fast Merry almost missed it, Morgana lunged sideways, leaning over Adonis, who lurched backwards. She wrapped her hand around the handle of her jitte, which was sticking out of her backpack, slid it out, and stood, swinging the weapon round to point at the three men. Her eyes were, Merry saw with a slight shiver of fear, entirely black and utterly furiously. "My father was a great man." She said in a tightly controlled voice. "My grandfather was a King among men." She added, her voice strong and hard. "You have no right to talk as if you know jack about any of us, so unless you want me to break your not-so-pretty faces, I suggest you turn around and walk away before I really loose my temper."

The third man, who was rather large and muscled, and completely bald, stepped forwards. "I'd like to see you try, girlie." He growled in a deep voice.

For a moment, everything went completely still, then Morgana's face split into a feral grin. Merry was suddenly struck by just how similar she looked to Fire-Fist's first wanted poster. She lunged forwards, and Baldy tensed, ready to defend himself. He was too slow, however, and Morgana rammed the point of the jitte into his solar plexus. All his breath whooshed out of him, and he crumpled, gasping for a breath that wouldn't come.

Before his friends could even register what had happened, Morgana lashed out again, whipping the jitte round to slam into the non-damaged side of Scarface's head. There was a nasty crunching sound which, Merry realised a moment later, was the sound of the man's jaw breaking. Fatso seemed to realise that they had picked a fight they weren't going to win, and started to back away. Morgana followed, a predatory smile curling her lips and showing off her canine teeth.

Something caught Merry's eye, and he looked round. Scarface was not going to let a broken jaw keep him down, apparently, and he was sneaking up on Morgana with a long knife in one hand. Merry opened his mouth even as he stood; ready to call out a warning, but his yell was drowned out by the sound of a gunshot. Scarface jolted, and a brilliant crimson stain blossomed on the back of his shoulder. Dropping the knife, he reached up to grip at his shoulder as a scream of pain ripped itself free of his throat.

Morgana whipped round to stare at Scarface, while Merry turned to stare at Adonis, who had a smoking flintlock pistol in one hand and a hard look on his face. Once Morgana had taken in the knife at Scarface's feet, and the bloody wound on his shoulder, she turned to look at Adonis. "Thanks." She said gratefully, and Adonis nodded once, accepting her gratitude. Stepping out from between the two men, Morgana considered them. "Get out of here before you loose more than your pride." She ordered, and the men didn't hesitate. Fatso scrambled over to Baldy, who was still wheezing a little, and tugged him to his feet. Scarface leant heavily on his companions as they limped away.

Morgana turned and sat down with a sigh. "I didn't know you had a gun, Adonis." She commented mildly, looking at the pistol he still had in his hand. It was a beautiful piece, made with a dark red wood and decorated with gold inlay.

He smiled a little wryly. "This is the Grand Line." He said simply, and Morgana nodded. She looked down at her own weapon and sighed. She was about to lean over and slide it back into her pack, when Adonis stopped her. "Ah, Morgana…?" He began, and she looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "I, uh… made this, for… you know…" He held out something that was made of leather and metal, and it took Morgana a moment to work out exactly what it was. When it clicked, she gasped. "I just wanted someway of saying thank you for letting me travel with you." Adonis added, looking a little bashful.

Morgana took the tangle of leather from Adonis and straightened it out. It was a sheath, a slightly crude one, admittedly, but a sheath it undeniably was. Carefully, she slid her jitte into it, and found that it fit, snug and perfect. The sheath was attached to a slender belt which, she could tell, was meant to go diagonally across her chest. She put it on and buckled it up. The jitte was a comforting weight against her back, and she turned a megawatt smile on Adonis. "This- Thank you!" She said happily.

Adonis turned his head to hide his blush. "It was nothing." He mumbled.

This earned him a light smack on the shoulder from Morgana. "Don't be silly." She said kindly. After a moment of considering what to say, she rolled her eyes and relented. "Come on, let's go find somewhere to sleep." She suggested, getting to her feet and moving over to pick up her bag. She slung it over her shoulder and waited patiently for the other two to get their things.

Walking through the port town was actually quite pleasant, Morgana decided as they ambled along, keeping their eyes open for a place to stay, but mostly just taking in the sights. It was getting rather late, and there were vary few people on the streets now; most of those that were kept to the shadows and alleyways, and glared at the trio if their eyes met. They wound their way through streets and alleys, and eventually came upon the town square, a large courtyard with shops and cafes all round the sides. There were many lampposts dotted around, lighting the area with a warm orange glow, and in the center of the wide open space was a monolith, lit up with a few miniature spotlights around the base.

Curious, Morgana walked over and peered at the writing engraved on the side. "To the brave marines that lost their lives in-" Anger flashed across Morgana's face and she finished reading through gritted teeth. "-in the War of Marineford."

Placing a hand on Morgana's shoulder, Merry gently led her away. "Calm down, Morgana. You can blow it up tomorrow." He said in a calm, placating voice, and he almost had to laugh at the way Morgana perked up, her eyes glittering a rich rosy pink in the orange light as she contemplated the best way to blow the monument up.

"That looks like a reasonable place." Adonis stated, pointing down one of the streets leading off the central square. Merry and Morgana turned to look. It was a small inn, and only slightly shabby looking. Considering the state of most of the places in this town, it was probably one of the better places to stay. They made their way over, climbed the couple of steps to the front door, and tried the handle. It was open.

The reception room was dimly lit, which indicated that there was still a chance of getting a room. It was tastefully decorated, but there was nothing particularly fancy or expensive that wasn't bolted down. Morgana sighed when she noticed that. Marines that actually did their jobs were bad enough, but Marines that didn't even bother were worse, in her opinion.

There was a bell on the desk at the back of the room, which Merry rang, and a few moments later, a slightly plump, stocky woman, perhaps in her forties or fifties, appeared through the door behind the counter. "You looking for a room, dears?" She asked, already reaching for the record book. "Just the three of you?" She checked before she even got an answer to her first question, and Morgana nodded. The woman took her in for a moment, a slight frown marring her forehead as she took in Morgana's open jacket with nothing but a black bikini-top beneath. "You want a separate room, or…?" She asked, though there was no judgement in her tone, which earned her some respect from Morgana.

"One room would be best, if you can, but separate beds." Morgana assured her quickly.

The woman nodded. "Right you are, love. We've got a room with three singles free." She said, and Morgana smiled. "That'll be six hundred Beli a night, not including any food." With a grateful smile, Morgana tossed six coins on the counter and the woman scooped them up and passed a key to Morgana. "Room eight, straight up the stairs, second door on your right." She said briskly, and the three of them thanked her before traipsing up the stairs.

They found their room right where the woman said, and Morgana unlocked the door, ushering the two boys in before her. It was a relatively small room, with a bed pushed up underneath the window in the wall opposite the door, another bed parallel to it, and the last pressed up against the wall on their right, at the foot of the other beds. There was a door at the foot of the third bed, and a quick look revealed it to lead to a small, slightly dingy bathroom. There was a desk to the left of the door, and beyond that, in the corner, was a chest of drawers.

"Dibs on the bed by the window!" Morgana yelled childishly, vaulting over the second bed and throwing herself onto the bed under the window, leaving her bag and boots on the floor between the two. She bounced slightly from her momentum, then snuggled her face into the pillow with a small smile. She was asleep scant seconds later.

The two boys were silent for a moment, sharing a look of bewildered amusement. "How does she _do_ that?" Adonis asked, sounding slightly amazed. "Just decide to go to sleep and…" He snapped his fingers to demonstrate, and Merry chuckled.

"I honestly don't know." He confessed. "Which bed do you want?" He asked a moment later, looking at Adonis, who simply shrugged.

"I don't mind." He said. "Doesn't make much difference to me, really."

Merry nodded, considering the two beds. With a shrug, he placed his bag beside the second one, parallel to Morgana's, and sat down on it. "I guess I'll take this one, then." He said, and Adonis nodded before making his way over to the third and final bed, tucked away in the corner. Merry retreated to the bathroom to change into pyjamas, and Adonis took the chance to strip down to his underwear and clamber under the covers.

The bed had that fresh-linen smell, and Adonis tugged the duvet up so high that only his eyes and nose were visible above it. Unseen, a smile curled his lips. He had never even dreamed that Morgana would invite him to join her crew, but he felt unbelievably flattered that she had. For the first time in his life, the unknown was looming before him, but unlike a week ago, before Laboon had swallowed him, Adonis wasn't scared.

No, he was excited.

Merry stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in pale blue pyjamas covered in goldfish that were a little too big for him. Adonis heard him padding across the room to his bed and getting under the covers. "Good night, Adonis." Merry whispered into the gloom. Adonis smiled, snuggling a little deeper under his covers, and closed his eyes.

"Night."


	8. Chapter 7: Gold Morgana Strikes Again

_A/N: This chapter is the last of the pre-writen ones, so from now on, I need to be pumping out a chapter per fortnight for you guys. Please forgive me if any are late, but I'll do my utmost to make sure that doesn't happen!_

_Also, I started this one with another news article, which I have no idea how to write. So if anyone has any feedback, I desperately want to know what I could do better. Also, if you have any thoughts on my characterisation of the Marines in this chapter, let me know, because I'm still unsure of how well I did portraying them..._

_Anyway, enough of my insecure ramblings. I hope you enjoy this chapter!  
><em>

* * *

><p>'<em>More than two weeks after her initial strike against the Marine forces in Lougetown, Gold Morgana appears again in a blaze of destruction. The 'Pirate Princess' has entered the Grand Line, and caused quite a scene in the central square of the port town Zokudon, on Kaigan Island, when she set explosives at the base of a Marine monument.<em>

_ Eyewitnesses report seeing the infamous young pirate arrive at the harbour on nothing less than a full-grown Great West Blue Whale. The whale, a common fixture at Twin Capes, was seen sporting the symbol of the current Pirate King. At the harbour, Morgana was heard proudly declaring her intention to overthrow the world government and 'bring justice back to the world'. The very next day, the monolith in the town square which was a monument to all those Marines who sacrificed their lives in the War of Marineford, was blown sky high with enough explosives to leave a ten foot wide crater in the ground._

_ The heir to the legacy of the Pirate King made an appearance in the square, and gave a stirring speech on the neglect and bad conduct of the Marines. She brought up several instances of severe Marine misconduct over the last century, including, but not limited to their underhand tactic of cutting the surveillance at the War of Marineford, the cover-up of the Arabastan Civil War and the truth of the First Pirate King's arrest. A word-for-word copy of her speech can be read in full, inside on page thirteen._

_ While the explosion distracted the Marines of the island, an unknown ally of Gold Morgana apparently snuck into the Marine base and set light to their main records room. The only marine at the base at the time, a young female Recruit, reports seeing an 'unearthly beautiful figure, shrouded in mist.' Whether this is the truth of what she saw, or a smoke-addled hallucination remains to be seen. While the records room burned, it appears that the vault containing the Marine Base's funds was ransacked. 'Absolutely nothing left. Not a single Beli' the Lieutenant of the Marine Base stated, appearing understandably peeved about the disappearance of their funds._

_ It appears that Gold Morgana was quite serious about her intent to wage war on the World Government. Despite her lack of allies and infamy, she has already proven herself quite capable of thoroughly provoking the Marines and the World Government. Whether or not she can finish the war she's begun remains to be seen, but there is no doubt that even if she doesn't succeed, she will be taking a great many Marines down with her._'

The newspaper, gripped in a white-knuckled grip, ripped down the middle. The poor chore boy, who was the unfortunate young man who had brought the Fleet Admiral his newspaper that morning, trembled as the blisteringly angry man thumped his fists, still gripping the torn halves of the newspaper, on his desk and rose to his feet, glowering at his desk.

Fleet Admiral Sakazuki didn't even attempt to calm himself as his face reddened with anger and the wood of his desk beneath his hands began to smoke ominously. The chore boy made a sound like a suffocating gerbil and backed into the corner of the spacious office in an attempt to get away from the heat beating off Sakazuki in waves.

In a sudden, violent gesture, molten lava poured out of Sakazuki's sleeves and rolled over his desk, consuming the wood until there was nothing left but a puddle of rapidly cooling volcanic rock at Sakazuki's feet. That act of destruction seemed to calm the man somewhat, and he turned a dark look on the chore boy, who straightened into a salute, despite the face he was feeling very faint at the moment. "Get me a Den-Den Mushi, then take this message to Commander Covet: I want a nineteen million Beli bounty on this 'Saiseki Merry' person's head!" Sakazuki all but snarled, and the chore boy squeaked out an affirmative answer before scampering out of the room.

Sakazuki sat in his office, quietly fuming, until a voice jolted him out of his increasingly homicidal thoughts. "Ma, ma, Akainu-san. You really need to calm down." This statement had quite the opposite of its intended effect. Sakazuki tensed even more and glared at the open doorway where Kizaru was leaning, cool as you please. "What's gotten you so riled up this time?" Kizaru wondered, stepping into the office.

"What else?" Sakazuki snarled, leaning back in his chair and sighing harshly. "That blasted Morgana girl." He grated out, the name feeling like poison on his tongue.

"Ah, yes… The girl claiming to be the daughter of Fire-Fist Ace…" Kizaru mused, quite aware that his mellow, detached interest was only winding Sakazuki up even more. He only just barely managed to keep his smirk to himself when he saw Sakazuki clenching his fists.

Wishing his desk was whole so he could melt it again, Sakazuki glared at Kizaru. "There's hardly any doubt that she _is_ Fire-Fist's daughter. Look at her!" He demanded, gesturing violently at the wanted poster on his wall, right next to her uncle. "She's a carbon copy of him!"

"Hmm, true." Kizaru admitted slowly, looking thoughtfully at the wanted poster. "I'm curious to know who her mother is, though. There were never any rumours of Fire-Fist having a partner." He pointed out. "Perhaps, if she's a civilian, we could use her as leverage?"

Now Sakazuki wished his had his desk so he could lean on it. "Very true, Kizaru. Look into that, would you?" He asked, and Kizaru pouted before opening his mouth to object. "That wasn't a request." Sakazuki snapped before a single word could leave Kizaru's mouth.

With a huge sigh, Kizaru turned for the door. "Fine, fine." He agreed mildly, waving over his shoulder as he left the office. Out in the hall, a chore boy carrying a Den-Den Mushi nearly ran into him. They would have collided head on if Kizaru hadn't dematerialised and, in light form, shot to the end of the corridor, re-materialising before the chore boy could even blink. "Watch where you're going in future!" Kizaru called jovially over his shoulder, and he heard the chore boy squeak an affirmative answer before hurrying into Sakazuki's office.

Because Sakazuki no longer had a desk, the poor chore boy was forced to stand there holding the Den-Den Mushi while the Fleet Admiral picked up the mouthpiece and all but yelled the referance number for one of the Vice-Admirals at the Den-Den Mushi. The poor creature was clearly terrified, but didn't dare do anything other than what Sakazuki had asked of it. For a few seconds, it kept its eyes closed at it rang. "_Puru-puru… puru-puru… Puru-Pu-_" When someone on the other end picked up, the Den-Den Mushi's eyes flew open. "_Kacha!_ Hello?" The voice that the issued out of the Den-Den Mushi was clearly female, and definitely not the one Sakazuki wanted to speak to.

"Hello. This is Fleet Admiral Sakazuki. Where is the Vice-Admiral?" He asked in a tight, hard voice, glaring at the Den-Den Mushi with one eyebrow raised, knowing the creature on the other end would be mimicking his expression.

"Ah! Fleet-Admiral! Sir! I-I'll get him right away, sir!" The woman cried. The Den-Den Mushi's eyes were wide with fear as it reproduced the woman's expression. A moment later however, it's eyes became half-lidded and sleepy looking as the woman abandoned the receiver in her haste to fetch the Vice-Admiral.

It was a very tense two minutes later that the Den-Den Mushi perked up again with a wary, but curious look now decorating its face. "Fleet-Admiral?" The soft-spoken man on the other end asked, his tone respectful.

"Vice-Admiral Coby?"

"Yes, sir."

"Did you read the newspaper this morning?" Sakazuki asked without preamble.

He could see confusion on the Den-Den Mushi's face, but Vice-Admiral Coby answered promptly. "Yes, sir. I did." Sakazuki thought he picked up something a little smug in the man's voice, but he dismissed it. Now was not the time to go into personal differences.

"I would like you to look into this." Sakazuki said bluntly. "This Morgana girl worries me, and the journalist, Saiseki Merry, has crossed a line."

The Den-Den Mushi grimaced, and Sakazuki felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance and suspense. "I'm sorry, sir, but I can't at the moment." Coby said mildly.

Sakazuki gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, trying to keep his temper in check. "And why not, Vice-Admiral?" He asked tightly.

The answer came with a pleasant smile that threatened to make Sakazuki's tenuous hold on his temper snap. "I'm afraid I'm going on holiday in two days, and I won't be back on duty for a month. Admiral Kuzan assured me it would be fine, and that he'd slip a memo onto your desk…" Coby added, trailing off as the obvious answer came to him, but he said nothing, for which Sakazuki was grateful.

"Very well, then." He grated out. "I expect you to look into it on your return." He said, because any other response would have left Coby in the superior position in the conversation, and as much as Sakazuki respected the young man's efficiency, he still didn't like him in the least, and didn't want to give him a single inch.

"Of course, sir." Coby replied, his tone respectful. Somehow, even this managed to piss Sakazuki off. Why had he called this little upstart again? It only took him a moment to remember. He may be irritatingly self-righteous, and a follower of that annoyingly named 'Moral Justice', but he was one of the most efficient Vice-Admirals. He was more reliable than Kizaru and Aokiji, that was for certain.

With an aggravated sigh, Sakazuki forced himself to remain civil as he ended the conversation. "That will be all, Vice-Admiral."

"Yes, sir."

"Enjoy your holiday."

"I will, sir. Thank you, sir."

Sakazuki hung up, and Den-Den Mushi closed its eyes and went back to sleep with great relief. The Fleet Admiral waved the chore boy away, and once he was alone in his office, he let his shoulders slump. If the morning was anything to go by, today was going to be a very bad day.

* * *

><p>"Adonis, you're wonderful!" Morgana exclaimed brightly, hugging the blushing man tightly. He coughed weakly when her embrace became painful, and she released him and turned back to the sack of loot on her bed. "There's plenty enough for a ship here." She stated happily, then giggled gleefully. "And it's marine money!"<p>

"It was a good plan." Adonis agreed. "Stealing marine funds while they were distracted by your show in the square." He glanced at Merry, who grinned proudly at the compliment of his plan.

After a moment, however, the happiness faded. "We better get a move on and buy a ship, or we'll be stuck here when the marines get their act together and come after us." He stated, looking worried.

"It'll be fine! It'll be _fine_!" Morgana said with, in Merry's opinion, unfounded optimism. "But I _do_ want to buy us our own ship." She decided. "Should we go shopping?" She asked brightly, and the other two nodded, smiling at her exuberance.

Morgana hefted the bag of money over her shoulder and proceeded out of the door, with Merry and Adonis trailing behind. Merry had already found out precisely where the shipyards were, so they weren't delayed by asking for directions as they walked through the streets. Merry decided that it was a good thing this town was so pirate friendly, or they would have been arrested already.

The shipyards, as they found out, were disappointingly small. Merry went to speak to the manager while Morgana and Adonis had a look round. It was a rather dirty, disorganised place, but the few ships that they did see being worked on looked surprisingly good. They were starting to get annoyed looks from the workers by the time Merry joined them, followed by the manager of the shipyards.

The man went wide-eyed when he saw Morgana, then got a sycophantic smile on his face. "Gold Morgana! What a pleasure to have you in our humble shipyard!" He gushed, clapping his hands together.

_Humble is right_. Morgana thought darkly, but outwardly, she smiled politely. "It's Gol D. Morgana, actually." She said cheerfully, offering her hand to the manager, who shook it with almost painful vigour.

"Ah, my apologies!" The manager said swiftly, but immediately moved on. "Now, this young man here said you were looking for a ship?"

"Yes, that's right." Morgana agreed. "We want something small enough for three people to crew, but big enough for perhaps ten people to live on." She explained. "I'm thinking a large caravel or something similar, if you have one."

The manager beamed widely. "Ah, you're in luck, Morgana, for we happen to have just bought and repaired three such ships!" He exclaimed brightly. "Come, this way, and have a look. You can see which one you like best and then we can discuss the price."

They were escorted out onto a wooden pier where three ships were anchored. The manager gestured to the first one and began to rattle off a list of details and facts. Morgana and Adonis listened intently, nodding and asking questions occasionally. Merry, on the other hand, had no idea what was being said, and instead walked up the gang plank and began looking round the ship. He was joined a little later by the other two, and they finished looking round the ship together, all the while discussing in low voices the pros and cons of the ship, out of ear shot of the manager.

At the next ship, they repeated the pattern, almost identically, but on the last ship, Morgana didn't stop to listen to the manager extolling the ship's virtues. She went straight to the bow and placed her hand on the wood at the base of the figurehead. Staring intently at the ship, she smoothed her hand over the join where the hull of the ship met the keel.

"This is our smallest ship, so it would probably be the cheapest. I think ten people on this one would be rather cramped, but it will be nice and easy for the three of you to sail." The manager was explaining. "She was a complete wreck when she first came to us. The only bits I really used of the original were the keel, the rudder and the mast. The rest was broken and battered beyond recognition."

"Seriously?" Morgana asked absently, still brushing her hands over the hull of the ship with a small frown on her face.

"Oh, yes. A complete wreck. It was brought to us by some pirates who make a living bringing scrap to shipyards like us from Davy Jones' locker." The manager explained. "It was exceptionally old, nearly a century by my reckoning, but I think we cleaned it up well enough." He enthused, patting the hull of the ship. He then rattled off a stream of details that went right over Merry's head, but the other two seemed to soak up like twin sponges.

"How many could live on it comfortably?" Morgana asked.

"There's two bunkrooms." The manager said. "One has two beds, the other only has one, but there's also space for two hammocks in each comfortably, so perhaps seven, maybe eight."

Nodding slowly, Morgana made for the gangplank. Exploring the ship, Merry thought that actually he liked the first one better, as this one had two small storage rooms, whereas the first one had a single much larger one. He could tell Adonis was quite taken with this one, but Morgana was utterly unreadable.

Morgana paid close attention to the kitchen, which was equipped with all the basics, as well a comfortable table to eat at, and captain's cabin, which was quite small, but equipped with a desk and some very nice windows looking out from the back of the ship.

After the tour, they made their way back up onto the deck, and Merry was just about to open his mouth to let Morgana know what he thought when she said, loud enough for the manager to hear. "We'll take this one."

"Excellent!" The manager said enthusiastically.

Merry frowned. "Hey, Morgana…"

Morgana turned her head but didn't look at Merry. "Don't argue with me on this, ok?" She murmured out of the corner of her mouth. "Trust me. _This_ is the one we want."

Confused, Merry fell silent. He had no idea what Morgana was talking about, and he felt a little restful, but he did trust her. "Alright." He agreed just as quietly.

They descended onto the doc again, and the manager ushered them into his office, where he began shuffling papers about. "Please, sit. Sit." He said distractedly. Adonis did, but Morgana remained standing, and Merry leant against the wall, arms folded across his chest. "Yes, yes, here it is." The manager said, then hummed to himself while reading over the piece of paper he'd just detached from a larger pile. "The price for that ship is seven hundred and fifty thousand Beli." He said after a moment of contemplating the paper.

"Seven-fifty thousand?" Morgana asked with a raised eyebrow. "Come off it. I'll pay five hundred thousand for it." She suggested, with a small smirk.

The manager laughed a little, as if he thought Morgana was joking. "I'm afraid I simply couldn't sell it for that little." He said, shaking his head. "No, I won't go one Beli under seven hundred thousand." He said firmly.

Morgana seemed to think about it. "Six hundred." She stated.

"Six-ninety."

"Six-twenty-five."

The manager narrowed his eyes. "Six-seventy-five, and absolutely _no_ less."

"Deal." Morgana agreed, holding out her hand. The manager smiled brightly and shook her hand. "We can pay now, but we'll be taking the ship round to the main docks." She told him, and the manager nodded amiably.

Shoving himself off the wall, Merry reached into his bag and rummaged around in it, collecting wads of thousand Beli notes. Each had a hundred notes in, and once he had seven, he pulled them out and tossed six on the table. Then he flicked through the seventh until he had pulled out twenty-five notes, and he tossed the rest onto the table, putting the remains back in his bag. "There." He said tiredly.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you!" The manager gushed sycophantically, and Morgana waved over her shoulder as the three of them left and headed down to their new ship.

Once they were on the ship, Morgana paused at the top of the gang plank and grinned insanely. One again, Merry was struck by her resemblance to Fire-Fist Ace. For a moment, all Morgana did was grin, then she punched the air with a wild cry of delight that caught the attention of most of the workers in the shipyard. "Alright!" Morgana exclaimed in a fiercely happy voice. "Time to set sail, me hearties!"

Chuckling despite himself, Merry saluted. "Aye, aye, captain!"


	9. Chapter 8: The Eternal Freedom

_A/N: This month, I've been competing (is that even the right term?) in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) which has been bogging me down lately, and makes writing Inherited War actually something of a welcome break XD_

_I don't really have much else to say about this chapter, except that I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it._

_On with the story~!_

* * *

><p>Morgana felt truly alive. She was stood at the prow of her new ship – <em>her<em> ship! – with one arm wrapped around the figurehead, which was a very battered looking bird, probably an eagle or some sort of falcon, Morgana thought, whose paint was so chipped, she couldn't even tell what colour it had been before. '_Should paint it red and gold and make it a Phoenix._' She thought absently, and laughed happily. With the wind in her hair and the scent of the sea all around her, the rail surrounding the deck lurching and heaving under her feet, she felt, just for a moment, at peace.

Then that moment was interrupted. "So, are you going to tell me what's so special about this ship?" Merry asked mildly. He sounded understandably peeved and irritated. This ship was going to be their home, and Merry was fully entitled to his say. Morgana knew that she'd been abrupt and kind of harsh, but there had been little choice in the matter.

"Yeah." She agreed, leaping off the rail, and beckoning Merry over. Adonis left the wheel to join them as well. Morgana placed her hand on the base of the figurehead and closed her eyes, running her palm over the smooth wood. "Feel that." She said, and Merry, looking dubious, stepped forwards and placed his hand beside Morgana's. "You too, Adonis." Morgana added, and the other boy joined them.

"What about it?" Merry asked.

"Don't you recognise that feel?" Morgana asked, her eyes snapping open. "It's old and worn, yeah, but there's no mistaking it." She said, and frowned at Merry's continuing puzzlement.

"It's Adamwood!" Adonis breathed in awe, his eyes wide. Morgana beamed, her eyes glittering in excitement as she nodded enthusiastically.

"Adamwood?" Merry echoed curiously.

"Dear gods, Merry!" Morgana gasped, looking utterly scandalised. "And you call yourself a pirate?" She demanded, and Merry blushed a little. "Adamwood is a horribly rare and incredibly strong wood found only on the Grand Line. Granddad's ship was made of Adamwood, and so is Uncle Luffy's, and they're the only ships that made it to the end of the Grand Line." She explained lovingly, stroking the base of the figurehead with a smile on her face. "The keel is irreplaceable, right? And we have a keel made of the strongest wood this world has to offer."

"I see." Merry breathed, nodding slowly.

Morgana grinned. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you earlier, but that guy didn't realise what he had, and I didn't want him to figure it out and charge us loads. The keel alone is probably worth twice what we paid for the whole ship." She explained, looking quite pleased with herself for her devious dealings with the manager of the shipyard.

"Yeah, I understand." Merry agreed. "I would have preferred a bigger ship, but now that you've explained, I agree this was the best ship there." Morgana nodded enthusiastically, glad that Merry understood, then turned to contemplate the sea again.

"Say… she really needs a name, doesn't she?" She mused suddenly. "I was thinking, if we paint the figurehead red and gold, then it'll look like a Phoenix, and that's just perfect, really." She declared, and saw Merry smile out of the corner of her eye. "So I'm thinking the name should be something associated with that, at least." She decided.

"Yeah… Something to do with 'Eternity' or 'Rebirth' or something" Merry agreed.

"The Eternal Flame?" Adonis suggested. Morgana gave a semi-agreeing nod. She liked it, but it hadn't clicked, somehow.

"The Eternal Helix?" Merry put in, and when Morgana gave him a curious look, he explained. "It's kind of obscure, but it's meant to be a reference to DNA being made of a double helix. Kinda like saying 'The Eternal Bloodline' sort of thing." He told her.

"Maybe…" Morgana murmured, though she didn't sound convinced. She leaned against the figurehead and looked out to sea while Merry and Adonis continued tossing ideas around. They were all good, but none of them really struck Morgana as right. With a sigh, she let her mind go blank, and calm as the sea. And that's when it hit her. "The Eternal Freedom!" She announced, turning to face the other two, who had been stopped, mid-conversation, by her outburst. "After all, that's what the sea is _about_. Everyone – marines, pirates, merchants – is out here because we want to be free."

Merry and Adonis blinked, then matching smiles spread across their faces. "You're right." Merry agreed. "The Eternal Freedom it is." Morgana beamed, feeling an upswell of happiness in her chest. _This_ was where her journey truly began.

It wasn't much later that they docked at the main port of the town, and they decided to get started right away on painting the figurehead. They sent Merry out to buy supplies like paint, while Morgana took a more thorough look at the inside, making an inventory in her head of all the things she wanted to buy.

Once Merry returned, they got to work on the figurehead. The first thing Morgana did was smooth down the rough edges and add a few more details. Then she and Merry started painting. By the time they were done, the figurehead looked incredible, with a base coat of deep scarlet, a brilliantly golden plume and gold flecks over its neck. The beak they made gold as well, and the eyes were a metallic black. The wings, which were carved into the side of the ship, were also red with golden flecks.

Merry and Morgana were also covered in splotches of paint, some even managing to get in their hair and on their backs. Morgana took one look at herself and burst out laughing. Merry joined in, but a moment later, he was startled into silence when Morgana took a running jump off the side of the ship.

"CANNONBALL!" Morgana yelled, tucking her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms tightly around her shins. She hit the water with a huge splash, and resurfaced with a wide grin on her face. "Come on, Merry!" She called up, waving him in. Merry shook his head, smiling indulgently at her childish behaviour. Morgana pouted up at him. "Spoilsport!"

Waiting while Morgana swam round to the ladder on the side of the pier, Merry took a look round the deck and frowned when he realised he hadn't seen Adonis since he got back from buying paint. It wasn't odd for Adonis to fade into the background somewhat, the guy was so quiet, but for him to actually go missing, especially after the stunts they had pulled the day before. Once Morgana was back on the deck, he walked over to her. "Hey, where's Adonis?" He asked curiously.

Morgana paused in the middle of wringing water out of her hair and looked up at Merry. "He said he had something to do, and went into town." She shrugged casually and went back to squeezing a few more drops of water out of her hair. "He should be back sometime soon." Accepting this, Merry nodded.

They spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up the ship a little. Merry went out and bought the things Morgana said she wanted, plus a few things he wanted, and they set about polishing the ship up. They gave some of the rooms a more clearly defined purpose and hung up a hammock in the larger bunkroom for Morgana to use. Merry, being a gentleman, had offered to let her sleep in a bed, but Morgana had quite clearly refused, saying that she would prefer to sleep in a hammock. They even gave the railings a fresh lick of golden paint.

Morgana was just putting the finishing touches to the last part of railing when Adonis returned. There was a large bundle of black cloth under his arm and a large, bulging backpack slung over one shoulder. "Hey!" Morgana called, waving. Adonis waved back as he climbed the gangplank and stepped onto the deck of the ship. "Where've you been?" Morgana asked curiously, bouncing over to him and peering curiously at his bag.

"Ah, well, I wanted to get some map-paper and other navigational tools, because I noticed you didn't have any." Adonis said, blushing a little as he indicated the backpack. "And I stopped by a fabric shop, and…" He unrolled the bundle of black cloth under his arm, holding it with a corner in each hand, for Morgana to see.

It was a pirate flag. A large rectangle of thick black cloth, and in the middle was painted a skull and crossbones. But that wasn't all. Behind the skull, stylised red flames leapt over the black canvas, and its eyes were a rich, royal blue, surrounded by a thick white infinity symbol that almost resembled goggles. "Oh, wow…" Morgana breathed, leaning her hands on her knees to get a closer look. "Adonis, did you design this?" She asked, looking up at him with awe in her eyes.

Blushing, Adonis nodded shyly. "Um, yeah. You don't have to use it, but the idea struck me, and I thought-"

"Of course I'm gonna use it!" Morgana exclaimed, straightening up, and Adonis stared at her in surprise. "It's brilliant!" She turned to the open door that led into the kitchen. "Hey! Merry! Come have a look at what Adonis got for us!" She yelled, cupping a hand around her mouth so her call would reach further.

Merry stuck his head out of the door and took in the flag that a very red Adonis was still holding up. He whistled appreciatively. "Is that our flag?" He asked with a wide smile.

"Hell yes, this is our flag!" Morgana exclaimed enthusiastically, making Adonis blush even darker and duck his head, grinning.

"I'm glad you like it." He said quietly.

Rolling her eyes fondly, Morgana hooked an arm around Adonis's neck and rubbed her knuckles fiercely on his scalp. "Numpty." She said affectionately, releasing him only to steal the flag off him and begin scrambling up the rigging. Even with one hand full, she moved so fast it seemed like she wasn't climbing at all, but flying.

She swung herself into the crows nest with a cat-like grace, and began attaching the flag to the mast. Once that was done she stood back with her hands on her hips. There was enough wind to catch the flag and make it ripple a little, but not enough to hold it out fully. Morgana leaned over the edge of the crow's nest and called down to Adonis. "Hey, Adonis!" The little blue-haired figure below her looked up. "Do you think you could paint this on the sail?" She yelled.

"Sure!" Adonis called back, though his voice sounded somewhat faint to Morgana.

Grinning, she made her way back down to the deck like a squirrel. She was buzzing with so much energy that she hardly knew what to do with herself. "Hey, guys!" She called, catching the two boys' attention. "How about going out to eat? I feel like a party!"

"Sure."Merry agreed readily, looking to Adonis for his answer. He nodded shyly, and the three of them set off into town.

Watching Morgana practically bounce down the street, looking this way and that for a good place to eat, Merry found that her energy and enthusiasm was infectious. He felt his mood rising and his steps lightening, and a grin snuck onto his face without him noticing. Adonis, too, was smiling brightly, though he still seemed mellow in comparison to Morgana.

"Ooh! Hey, guys, look!" Morgana called, pointing at a tavern a little ay up the road. It was a relatively clean and tidy place for this town, and the sign above the door, declaring it to be 'Bill's Tavern' was bright and colourful. "They do meals! And rum!" She cried.

Chuckling, Merry nodded his agreement to her choice, and followed her through the door. The inside of the tavern was the same as the outside, clean and bright and tidy. Most of the tables and stools at the bar were full, but there was a table not too far from the bar that was empty. Morgana immediately darted through the cluster of tables and claimed the empty one. By the time Merry and Adonis had joined her, a waitress had already sauntered over and asked if they knew what they wanted.

"A bottle of rum to share!" Morgana declared. "And…" She looked at the menu scrawled on a blackboard on the wall. "Three of those steak thingies."

"Is that all?" The waitress asked.

"I don't know." Morgana shrugged and looked at the other two. "What are you guys gonna eat?" She asked, and Marry had to laugh at the waitress's slightly startled expression. He guessed she'd assumed that the steaks were for all of them, not just Morgana.

"I'll have the grilled salmon with salad." Merry said, still chuckling softly.

"I'll have the daily special." Adonis added with a kind smile. Still looking a little confused, the waitress nodded and left. It was barely a minute before she was back, putting a bottle of rum and three tankards on the table with a smile.

"Here you go." She said sweetly, and Merry couldn't help but notice the rather flirtatious smile she directed at Adonis. Of course, the shy boy was utterly oblivious to the undertones, and smiled back kindly, making the waitress blush a little.

"Thanks!" Morgana cried brightly, reaching for the bottle and filling the tankards with the rich orange-gold liquid. "To The Eternal Freedom!" She declared, raising her tankard. "And eternal freedom!" She added with a grin.

Laughing, the two boys raised their own tankards and knocked them against Morgana's. "KAMPAI!" They cried, downing their drinks as one. Morgana immediately poured them some more.

They passed the time chatting and laughing, and getting steadily more drunk as time went by. Their meals arrived, and Morgana fell on her food with gusto, finishing off three plates in the time it took Merry and Adonis to get half way through their meals.

Whilst she waited for the others to finish, Morgana finished off the rum and ordered another bottle. When the bottle arrived, she turned to the others, her eyes rose pink in her excitement and delight, and only slightly clouded with alcohol. "Hey, how about a drinking contest?" She suggested enthusiastically.

"No." Merry said immediately. He's only had two or three tankards of rum, and he was already beginning to feel more than a little light-headed.

"Aw, come on!" Morgana pressed, but Merry shook his head firmly, so she rounded on Adonis. "Drinking contest?" She practically pleaded.

"Sure." Adonis agreed lazily.

"Great!" Morgana exclaimed, lifting her tankard in the air and spilling a little bit on the table. "I've had three and a half already!"

"Two." Adonis stated, finishing off the last of his second tankard, and holding it out for a refill. Somehow, Merry became the judge, and the guardian of the rum bottle, as Morgana put it. They drank steadily, and Merry was a little in awe of the pair of them. Five glasses of rum were enough to put him to sleep, but Morgana and Adonis were still going strong at ten.

However, when Adonis held out his tankard for his eleventh glass, his head hit the table and he started to snore. Morgana cackled and raised her arms in triumph. "I WIN!" She declared brightly. "Merry, what's my prize?" She asked hopefully.

"The privilege of helping me carry this lump home." Merry stated, jerking his thumb at Adonis. Morgana pouted for a moment, but the next second she was distracted by something shiny she saw out of the corner of her eye. Merry, rolling his eyes, signalled the waitress over and forked out the money for the food and drink.

"Oh! Merry! Get another bottle to gooo!" Morgana pleaded, draping herself over Merry's shoulders.

"No." Merry said bluntly.

"Aw, please?" Morgana begged. When Merry shook his head stubbornly, she pouted. "Stingy." She grumbled out of the corner of her mouth.

With the bill paid, Merry stood and lifted one of Adonis's arms over his shoulder. Morgana got his other side, staggering a little under the combined effect of Adonis's weight and the amount of alcohol she'd consumed. They left the tavern together, with Morgana singing '_Binks no Sake_' very loudly into the night.


	10. Chapter 9: Drunken Shenanigans

_A/N: Well, here's another chapter. I actually managed to complete this one a couple of weeks ago. This chapter is mainly just an ecuse for silliness. I was hyper, and Morgana was drunk. Need I say more?_

_Neewho, I hope you enjoy said silliness. On with the story~!_

* * *

><p>Stumbling down the street with a snoring Adonis and a drunk Morgana was not Merry's idea of fun, but with Morgana's infectious laughter echoing through the street, and her slightly off-key rendition of <em>Binks no Sake<em>, he found that he was actually almost enjoying himself. It was dark, the stars were out, and the streets were mostly empty, so they weren't impeded on their way back to the harbour.

Quite suddenly, Merry felt the weight of Adonis on his shoulder almost double, and he turned to berate Morgana, only to find her no longer there. Looking around, Merry spotted her a little way off, wobbling towards a couple of Marines leaning up against a notice board and smoking. Groaning, Merry stumbled after her, heaving Adonis into a more comfortable position over his shoulder.

"You marines _suck_, you know that?" Morgana slurred, pointing a wavering finger at the two marines. The two men looked at each other with raised eyebrows, before scowling at Morgana.

"You better watch yourself, miss." One said coldly.

"Watch _myself_?" Morgana asked. "Watch _you_ is more like it. Who knows what you stinky, cheating, scheming marines'll ge'up to _next_!" She hiccupped slightly, and grinned in a slightly demented fashion. "Y'know, you're reeeally _stupid_, too." She added, snickering.

"You do know we can arrest you and hold you without charge for twenty-four hours?" One of the marines warned, flicking away his cigarette butt and crossing his arms over his chest in an intimidating gesture.

"_Tryyy_ it, _pannnsy_." Morgana taunted.

"That's it." The marine reached for Morgana, but she was gone.

"Eek! Quick, Merry! Run!" Morgana called over her shoulder, giggling.

Merry growled in frustration. "RUN? With this lump over my shoulder?" He demanded, elbowing Adonis sharply. The boy-haired man only groaned in sleep.

Morgana skidded to a halt and considered Adonis. "Oh, I _know_!" She enthused, bouncing over to a stack of empty barrels beside a storehouse. "If we put'im in _this_, we can _roll_ him down t'the harbour!" She declared brightly, looking as proud of herself as if she'd just solved the problem of world hunger and invented a self-sailing ship.

"_What_?" Merry yelped. "We can't-!" He began, but Morgana had already stolen Adonis off him and was dragging him over to the nearest barrel. Merry was about to go after her, to try and stop her, when he felt someone coming up behind him. Already seething, He whipped round and slammed his heel into the marine's chest, sending him flying into a wall. His friend helped him up, and Merry turned to face them properly. "You know, I'm in a _really_ bad mood, right now." He said, glaring at the two marines.

"Hey, wait a sec." The marine he'd kicked said, his eyes widening. "Isn't that-" He looked over at the notice board, and Merry couldn't help but follow his gaze. His mouth dropped open when he saw his own face depicted on a Wanted Poster, right next to Morgana's. "It's Seiseki Merry!" The marine gasped.

Merry ignored him and his friend, and strode over to the notice board. He took in his wanted poster, and wondered when the photograph had been taken. He knew it had been taken earlier that day, as he was wearing the same shirt in the photo. It was a forty-five degree shot, and his head was slightly lowered, a small smile on his face. Eventually, Merry decided they had probably taken it while he was out shopping for paint earlier that day. But he didn't' stand staring at the photo for long, and instead his eyes dropped to the figure below his name:

_19,000,000 Beli_

It wasn't a patch on Morgana's, but Merry hadn't expected it to be. He felt a little thrill go through him. _No turning back now_, he thought, and was a little surprised when that thought didn't cause even a smidgeon of nervousness to flutter in his stomach.

"Oh, god, then _that_ must be-!" The marine's voice cut through Merry's contemplation and he turned around again.

"Gold Morgana!" The other marine gasped.

Morgana looked up from trying to force a lid onto the barrel over Adonis's head, and glowered. "Tha's GOL – D – MORGANA, you reee_tards_." She called, and finally managed to get the lid of the barrel to slot into its groove. She looked down at it in surprise, then grinned. "Wahey! Let's go, Merry!"

At the same time, one of the marines cried "Call for reinforcements!"

Rolling his eyes, Merry resigned himself to going along with Morgana's insanity as she rolled the barrel onto its side and shoved it off. Slowly, it began to pick up speed, tumbling down the faint slope towards the harbour. "Wheee!" Morgana yelled, her arms in the air as she raced after the barrel that had Adonis inside. Merry chased after her.

The barrel bounced over a rock in the road, and as it came back down it smashed, sending Adonis tumbling down the street a few paces, before he sat up, clutching his head and looking around blearily. "Wha-?" He slurred, clearly still drunk and obviously rather dizzy.

"Up'n'attem!" Morgana cried as she pelted past, grinning widely.

Adonis didn't respond, clearly not comprehending the garbled words. Merry slowed just enough to hoist Adonis up but the back of his t-shirt. "RUN!" He yelled. That, apparently, got through to Adonis, and he stumbled once before finding his feet and running after the others.

"Why're we running?" He called, his voice not quite managing to be a shout.

"Marines!" Merry called back.

Comprehension dawned on Adonis's face, but before he could respond in anyway, several marines sprinted out of a side street and formed a human blockade across their chosen path. Giggling insanely, Morgana drew out her jitte and, as she approached the marines, lashed out at one man's head. There was a loud crack, and the marine crumpled. Merry wondered if he'd ever recover fully from a blow like that. Another marine went to grab Morgana, but as he moved forwards, Morgana tripped.

Merry was about to curse, when he saw that instead of falling flat on her face, Morgana had simply rolled with the momentum of her fall and sprung back onto her feet, behind the blockade and was still running. "Missed me, missed me, now you gotta _kiss_ me!" Morgana sung over her shoulder, cackling as several marines turned and gave chase.

The rest of the marines, however, remained blocking the way for Merry and Adonis. Frustrated beyond belief with his immature, _drunk_ captain, Merry decided to take it out on the marines. He launched himself into a handstand, then propelled himself off the ground, arching in midair, and slammed, feet first, into a marine's chest. Using him like a spring board, Merry kicked off him into another handstand, which had the added bonus of making the marine slam into the ground with extra force. He bounced slightly, coughing up blood, then lay still, struggling to breath.

Meanwhile, Merry brought his feet slamming down into a marine's head, smashing his face into the ground. He arched his back, straining his back muscles as he stood fluidly. He straightened out his shirt and smoothed out a few wrinkles, blatantly ignoring the marines that were surrounding him with angry looks on their faces.

He smiled pleasantly at them, and just as they were about to attack, there was the sound of several gunshots, and the marines fell in time to the deadly music. Merry looked round and saw Adonis with two matching flintlock pistols in hand, looking quite the deadly pirate, despite the slight flush in his cheeks from the alcohol he'd consumed. "Thanks." Merry said casually, despite the few marines that were still standing and charging towards them. One marine stepped close enough to slash at Merry, but the blonde boy dodged gracefully. Barely looking at the marine, Merry's foot smashed upwards into his wrists, forcing him to let go of his sword. Then, with his leg almost straight up in the air, Merry brought it crashing down again into the back of the marine's head in one fluid movement. "We should get going." Merry said pleasantly to Adonis. "Before our captain casts off without us."

Nodding, Adonis joined Merry as they began sprinting after Morgana. She had gotten a good head start, and was about halfway between them and the docks. She was still being pursued by marines, but a few of them had been beaten, and their unconscious, or possibly lifeless, bodies were the occasional obstacle for Adonis and Merry.

When the finally reached their ship, they found Morgana balancing surprisingly well on the gangplank, beating back the marines to stop them boarding and sabotaging the ship. "Bout time you slow-pokes got'ere!" Morgana declared, and Merry noticed that she seemed a little more sober than before, which was definitely a good thing, he decided. They cleared themselves a path through the marines with relative ease, and joined Morgana at the top of the gangplank. "Adonis, you ge' th'sail." Morgana ordered, and Adonis nodded and hurried off. "Merry, can you…?" Morgana gestured vaguely at the marines regrouping on the pier.

"With ease." Merry answered, nodding. With a grin, Morgana smacked one last marine off the gangplank and into the water, then turned and headed for the wheel. Merry shifted so he was stood on the deck of the ship, right in front of the gangplank. "So, which of you cowards wants to go for a swim first?" He asked casually.

The marines charged up the gangplank, swords at the ready, and Merry, smiling smugly, kicked it loose. The gangplank tumbled into the water, taking half a dozen marines with it. A moment later, the sail unfurled and the boat began to pull out of the dock. Waving cheekily to the marines, Merry couldn't help but chuckle at the outraged looks on their faces.

The Eternal Freedom cut through the waves, picking up speed, and soon, they'd left Kaigan Island behind. Merry joined Morgana and Adonis on the highest deck where the wheel was situated. "You guys let me take the first watch, ok?" He said, and when they both opened their mouths to protest, Merry held up his hand. "You're both drunk. Go to bed and sleep it off. I'll wake you both at dawn so I can sleep."

"Alright." Morgana agreed a little reluctantly. She handed over the Log Pose and went below deck with Adonis. Merry joined them just long enough to collect his 'journal-novel', as Morgana had taken to calling it, and retreated back on deck with a lamp to write. For a while, Merry found that he barely needed to adjust their course at all. They stayed mostly on track for the whole night, but as dawn approached, the weather started destabilising and Merry was jumping up every twenty minutes because the ship had somehow managed to get turned ninety or more degrees off course.

Finally, the sun peeked above the horizon, and Merry headed below to wake the other two. Adonis was reasonably good about his hangover, and simply staggered to the kitchen to get himself some breakfast, wincing in the dawn sunlight, once Merry had woken him. Morgana, on the other hand, only groaned and rolled over when Merry tried to wake her.

"Get up, Gana." Merry said again, shaking her a little. Morgana mumbled something that sounded like 'five more minutes' and hid her head under her blanket. "As captain of this ship, Morgana, it's your duty to get up on time and set a good example to your crew!" He said sternly.

Morgana shot him a disbelieving look, but tumbled out of her hammock anyway. "Like you need anyone to set you a good example." She teased, tiredly. "Bleh. My head hurts."

"Well, you did drink stupid amounts of rum yesterday. Remember?" Merry said sardonically, rolling his eyes as he began getting ready for bed. Morgana paused, then nodded, a grin slowly spreading across her face. "Oh, shoo." Merry said tiredly, tossing the Log Pose to her and collapsing into bed with a groan.

Giggling, Morgana scrambled out of the bunkroom, and quickly checked the Log Pose as she stepped outside. They were still pretty much on course so she headed to the kitchen. As she opened the door, the smell of frying eggs reached her nose and her stomach grumbled insistently. "Are you making enough for five?" She asked Adonis, who was stood in front of the stove.

He looked over his shoulder and smiled. "Good morning, Captain." He said, making Morgana beam. "And I can, if you'd like."

"Yes please." Morgana said quickly, dropping into a seat at the table. She folded her arms on the wooden surface and was asleep the moment her head touched them. Adonis shook his head and chuckled at her ability to drop off to sleep in an instant, and went to fetch enough bacon, eggs and hash browns for about four or five people to eat comfortably.

As the two plates hit the table, Morgana's head shot up, her eyes slightly bleary as she took in the plate in front of her. "Thanks, Adonis." She said cheerfully, digging in.

"You're welcome." Adonis replied, smiling happily as he started on his own, considerably smaller breakfast.

"Any idea what island we're heading to now?" Morgana asked between bites.

Adonis shook his head. "No one really wanted to talk to me about it for some reason. All I got out of one person was something about birds and 'terrors in the earth' but nothing actually useful." He said with a shrug.

"Terrors in the earth, huh?" Morgana asked, looking intrigued. "That sounds fun."

Adonis had to laugh. "You have a weird definition of fun, Morgana." He told her quite cheerfully, still chuckling.

"Pops kept saying that too, but I haven't got a clue what it's supposed to mean." Morgana stated with wide-eyed innocence, and a moment later they both fell about laughing.

When Adonis got his breath back, his brain caught up with the conversation, and he frowned a little in confusion. "You said your dad said you had a weird definition of fun, but… you couldn't have been very old when Fire-fist… um, died."

Morgana shook her head. "I hadn't even turned one. But Ace is _dad_, and Pops is pops."

It took Adonis a moment to understand, but then he nodded. "Ah, I see. Sorry, I just assumed…"

Waving him off, Morgana shook her head. "Most people do. It's ok."

There was a moment of silence, then Adonis asked quietly "Do you mind if I ask… Who…?" He began, hesitantly, then blushed faintly, and shook his head.

"Can I trust you?" Morgana asked seriously.

Adonis looked up, a little startled. "Of course."

"I mean," Morgana pressed. "If the marines captured you, and tortured you for information, would you tell them my pops name?" She asked.

Adonis looked slightly bewildered by the question. "Of course not. I don't have the right to go telling other people _your_ secrets, let alone people who I _know_ would use it against you." He pointed out.

Smiling, Morgana nodded. "I believe you." She said happily. "Have you heard the name 'Smoker' before?" She asked lightly, as if this wasn't perhaps her biggest secret.

Adonis blinked. "It- It sounds familiar." He said slowly. "But I can't place it."

"He was a marine." Morgana said quietly. "He quit right after dad's execution to take care of me, because, obviously, he could raise me right under the nose of the marines. They'd notice right away who I look like." Adonis nodded slowly. "He was pretty famous for cleaning up Lougetown almost twenty years ago." She added.

"Ah!" Adonis's eyes lit up with recognition. "Merry mentioned him once. He said that he used to be in charge of Lougetown, but left to chase the Pirate King, and quit along with Sengoku after Fire-fist's execution." He paused, looking a little uncertain. "I take it Merry doesn't know that he's your pops, right?" He checked.

"Right." Morgana agreed. "I know I should tell him, but I don't know if- I know he wouldn't _deliberately_ tell anyone, but Merry- He's a _storyteller_, and, you know, me being the product of an illicit affair between a marine Commodore and a Whitebeard Pirate Commander… it's a great story. I don't know if he wouldn't get carried away and say too much to the wrong people…"

Adonis thought about what she said for a minute, before he smiled. "I don't think you need to worry about that." He said with a small shake of his head. "Merry's pretty good at keeping quiet when he has to. I mean, he still hasn't told us exactly who his parents are, has he?" Adonis pointed out. "He's dropped hints, but he's pretty good at steering the conversation away if we ever get close to actually asking him."

Slowly, Morgana nodded, realising exactly how true what Adonis was saying was. "You're right. I probably will tell him if it ever comes up." She said slowly. "But…" She shrugged again. "I don't want to be the reason my pops becomes wanted, you know?" She explained, and Adonis nodded understandingly.

"Perhaps that's the reason Merry hasn't told us his parent's names, too?" Adonis suggested.

"But his dad is already wanted." Morgana pointed out.

"So was yours." Adonis countered with a smile.

Chuckling, Morgana nodded. "Good point." She agreed. She finished up her breakfast, and absently checked the Log Pose as she placed the dishes in the sink for washing up. "AAH! We're _way _off course!" She exclaimed, dashing out of the room to rectify that little problem. Adonis chuckled to himself as he also stood and took his plates to the sink, deciding that he might as well do the washing up while Morgana was busy.


	11. Chapter 10: Nightfangs

_A/N: For those of you who have been following this story for a while, I'm terribly, terribly sorry about the horrificly long time it's taken me to update! *kneels and begs for your forgiveness* As you might notice, I've scrapped the previous versions of chapters ten and eleven, because, upon rereading them, I realised that all my problems writing chapter twelve (of which there were A LOT) were because I had MAJORLY fucked up on chapters ten and eleven._

_The characterisation was WAY off, for starters. Morgana, while she does have an air of childish simplicity, is not really meant to come across as childish, and in the last version of this chapter, she was like Luffy la femme. Not good, really. Secondly, I messed up the plot a little. Not much, but there wasn't enough focus where it should be, and that made writing what has to happen later really, really hard. And, not to mention, I focused too much on fillery stuff._

_So, apologies to all of you hoping for a new update. This is just the improved version of chapter ten. You might recognise little bits, but mostly, it's completely new stuff._

_Again, I'm very sorry for the huge delay, and I hope you can forgive me for taking the time to rewrite these chapters, as well. I'm not making any promises on the sceduling (we saw how well THAT worked out, didn't we? -_-) because I'm currently in the process of touching up my first original novel, and preparing for NaNoWriMo (again). But still, I hope I can make somewhat regular updates from now on..._

_Please enjoy this much improved Chapter 10!_

* * *

><p>"Land ho!"<p>

The cry from the crow's nest, where Merry had taken to spending a lot of his time while writing, had both Morgana and Adonis looking up in anticipation. Morgana, who had been practicing with her jitte on the deck slid the weapon back into it's sheath and lent over the side of the ship, peering at the growing mass of land on the horizon. "I see it!" She called, turning back to Adonis and grinning in anticipation.

As they drew closer, Morgana managed to make out the port where they would dock. It was stretched out on either side of the mouth of a river. Taking a closer look, Morgana spotted a Marine flag towards the left of the town, so she directed Adonis, who was at the wheel, towards the right.

Slowly, detail was revealed. The buildings were all made out of a creamy-white stone that gave the place the appearance of glowing softly in the sunlight. There island beyond was lush and green, before tapering off into a grey and rocky point. Something Morgana found a little odd was the lack of apparent farmland. Most islands had some form of farms so they weren't forced to import too much of their food, but all the greenery beyond the port looked wild and untamed.

When they reached the pier, Morgana leapt down to secure the _Eternal Freedom_, and then paused to take a look around as Merry and Adonis climbed down the ladder to join her. The port certainly wasn't deserted, but she wouldn't describe it as bustling, either. There were a few sailors, dockhands and other assorted seafarers dotted around, as well as a couple of old fishermen at the end of one pier.

"So!" Morgana said, turning to the others as they reached her. Merry gave her a prompting look, encouraging her to go on. "What does everyone want to do while we're here?" She asked.

"Well, we do need to find out how long the Log Pose needs to set, but… I'd like to check out the bookshop." Merry said with a shrug.

When Morgana turned to look at Adonis, he just shrugged, smiling faintly. "Well, _I_ want to find out what this whole 'terrors of the earth' thing is about." Morgana said into the ensuing silence. A passing sailor gave her a startled look, then made a sign for warding off evil over his chest and carried on his way.

Merry watched him go with bewilderment. "What was that about?"

"I don't know, but I _really_ want to find out." Morgana announced, a determined look on her face. "Also, I want to blow up that marine base we saw." She added mildly, and Merry rolled his eyes fondly at her complete lack of discretion. Thankfully, there didn't appear to be anyone in earshot.

"We need to stock up on supplies too." Merry added, and Morgana nodded her agreement. "We should do that first, in case something happens and we get run out of town or something." He stated, then suddenly wondered if he'd jinxed it.

Morgana grinned, clearly biting back laughter. "Ok. You two go get supplies and stuff, I'm gonna see if I can find out about these 'terror' things, and maybe have a snoop around the Marine Base. See if there's anything interesting there."

Hitching his bag a little higher on his shoulder, Merry nodded his agreement. "Don't get caught." He said to Morgana as he set of down the pier, Adonis in tow.

"As if." Morgana replied, grinning. The only response she got from Merry was a hand raised in lazy farewell, making her chuckle. Taking a look around, she decided to ask a sailor or someone when the Log Pose would set. Her path set, she strode forwards to a small cluster of dockhands attempting to lift a whole bunch of large crates. "S'cuse?" She called casually, causing the dockhands to look round.

"The harbour ain't no place for a lady, miss." One said, straightening up and hooking his thumbs into his belt. Morgana couldn't help but notice that the man was very beefy from the waist up, but absurdly spindly from the hips down.

Morgana adopted a curious expression. "Lady? Where?" She asked, looking around mockingly, before turning a prompting smirk at the dockhand. He didn't look very impressed.

"Now, listen here, girly-" He began, but one of his buddies grabbed his arm, his wide eyes locked on Morgana. Mentally, Morgana dubbed him Spikes, as his hair, which was held out his face by a piece of rope tied around his head, stuck up in brown, gravity-defying tufts.

"Dude, don't you recognise her?" Spikes demanded.

"Hah?" Mr. Top-Heavy grunted, looking unimpressed.

The other three looked round now, eyebrows raised in curiosity. "That's Gold Morgana. You know, the girl with the hundred million Beli bounty." Spikes stated.

Top-Heavy turned to give Morgana an appraising look, and Morgana returned his stare steadily in a silent challenge. "You here to cause trouble, pirate?" He demanded after a long pause. The other dockhands moved in a little closer, their postures suddenly hostile and their gazes intense.

If they hoped to intimidate Morgana, they failed miserably. "Are you Marines?" She asked casually, tilting her head back ever so slightly.

There was a ripple of muttering through the dockhands, and Top-Heavy actually spat off to the side. "No." He grunted, and Morgana couldn't quite tell if it was disgust or just indifference she could hear in his tone.

"Then I'm not going to cause you any trouble." Morgana replied sweetly. Spikes snorted with amusement, but the rest looked disbelieving. "I just want to ask a few questions." She stated simply.

"Like…?" Spikes prompted.

"When does the Log Pose set?" Morgana asked.

This was clearly a reasonable place to start, because the dockhands relaxed somewhat. "Three days." Top-Heavy said brusquely. "Anything else?"

"Could you give me directions to the Marine Base?" Morgana asked, her eyes glittering mauve in malicious mischief.

"Why would we tell you?" Spikes asked incredulously.

Morgana shrugged. "I might as well ask." She pointed out dismissively. "Alright, then… I heard some rumours on the last island-" She began, but as the words left her mouth, the atmosphere became riddled with tension and hostility again. "-about 'terrors in the earth'. What's that about?" She finished, unperturbed but extremely curious.

All of the dockhands looked around warily, made the same sign for warding off evil as the sailor, then glared at Morgana. "If you know what's good for you, you'll leave well enough alone, alright, girly?" Top-Heavy growled, shifting forwards slightly so that he loomed over Morgana.

Morgana blinked at him, smiled, and said "No."

Top-Heavy's face became a mask of rage. "Don't you dare bring that curse down on us, you _filthy pirate_!" He roared, taking a swipe at Morgana.

Dodging backwards, Morgana was a little taken aback by the sudden, violent reaction. "What _is_ it?" She asked, her curiosity mounting with every moment.

"You don't want to know." Spikes said. His tone was much more reasonable than his friend's, but Morgana noticed that he was definitely more hostile than before. His eyes were tracking her every move, and there was coldness in his eyes.

"I really do." Morgana assured him earnestly.

"You shouldn't even mention it, let alone talk about it." Spikes warned. "You'll get yourself, and everyone else, for that matter, into a whole lot of trouble. So just keep your nose out of it, re-supply and get the hell out of here, ok?" He prompted encouragingly.

"Trouble's been following me my whole life. A little bit more doesn't scare me." Morgana stated calmly.

"That's what I hate about you pirates!" Top-Heavy snarled, looking like he wanted to beat Morgana black and blue. It was only Spikes' restraining hand on his arm that held him back. "You don't even think twice about dragging _innocent people_ into danger, just because your bored, or greedy, or whatever. You're so selfish! It makes me sick!"

"I don't want to put civilians in danger." Morgana stated simply, her mood taking a nosedive as she was once again judged for a reputation that wasn't even hers. _Story of my life_, she thought with mild irritation.

"Then leave well enough alone!" Top-Heavy shot at her.

Morgana huffed, her shoulders drooping in disappointment and frustration. "Fine." She grumbled, deciding to leave it be for now, and ask someone else. Someone less aggressive, preferably.

"You'll let it be?" Spikes pressed. "You won't mention the- them again?"

Morgana glared mutinously at him. She didn't like lying. Her Pops had always taught her not to lie, and she didn't want to let him down, not even for this small thing. "I'm still gonna ask around, but I won't push for answers, I guess." She said in the end.

This, it seemed, was satisfactory. "No one on this island is going to tell you anything." Top-Heavy grunted, completely confident. Morgana pulled a disappointed face, unable to convince herself otherwise. After the way these guys reacted, Morgana had a feeling she'd be getting the same response from everyone she asked.

The dockhands turned back to their crate and picked it up, shuffling off down the dock towards a warehouse, the doors of which stood wide open and waiting. Morgana huffed irritably and glanced around again, wondering if there was anyone else nearby who might talk to her, or if not, where she could go to have the best chance of success.

Someone tugged on the hem of her jacket, and she turned, looking round. Stood beside her was a boy, probably no older than ten or eleven. He looked a little dirty and scuffed, but not as if he was living rough, just working rough, which Morgana found a little sad. "I heard what you was talking about." He said quietly.

"The terrors in the earth?" Morgana asked.

"Shh!" The boy said quickly, his eyes flicking about all over the place. "Don't just blurt it out like that!" He hissed. Morgana gave him a puzzled look. "You can't talk too loud, else they'll hear you. And if you talk about them too near the mountain, they'll get you for sure." He told her.

"What will?" Morgana asked eagerly. "Those terror thingies?"

The boy nodded solemnly. "Nightfangs." He breathed, so quiet Morgana nearly missed it.

"Nigh-" She began, but the boy punched her, and rather hard for a boy so young, making Morgana hiss in pain. "What was that for?!" She demanded.

"You can't say it out loud, else they'll hear you!" The boy hissed, glaring at her.

Morgana's eyebrows flew up. "So… these… creatures…" She began carefully, looking a little confused. "They… live in the mountain? And they have really good hearing, or something?"

"Yeah." The boy nodded avidly. "And if they hear you talking about them, or about-" He glanced around and dropped his voice to a whisper again as he continued. "About the _treasure_, then they'll come the next nightfall, and raid the town."

Morgana perked up a little. "Treasure?" She whispered.

The boy nodded again, his eyes going impossibly wide. "They say- well, the town history book says that… that this pirate, a famous one, he turned up here two hundred years ago and, well, he was sick, right? But he had all this treasure that he couldn't spend before he kicked it. So he buried it, right?" The boy told her in a whisper so quiet, Morgana had to crouch down and lean close to hear him.

"And he buried it on this island?" Morgana asked, her interest mounting with every word the boy spoke.

"Yeah. 'Parently, he brought the- _Nightfangs_ with him from another island, cause they were dying out or some such, and he set them to guard his treasure, cause he didn't trust his crew not to get greedy and steal it all, you see?" Morgana nodded. "And then he died, and the creatures 'ave been here ever since." He concluded solemnly.

"So no one wants to talk about it because they're afraid the Nightfang's will come if they do?" Morgana checked.

"That's right."

"And no one goes up the mountain?"

"Well, sometimes pirates do." The boy said. "They come here and they hear about the treasure and they can't resist, see? But they rarely come back, and if they do, the Nightfangs follow 'em once the sun's set, and then they get them. And none's ever got their hands on any treasure or nothing."

"So are the Nightfangs nocturnal or something?" Morgana asked curiously.

The boy shrugged. "How should I know? I ain't never seen one!" He declared. Morgana made an agreeing face and stood, thanking the kid for telling her and ruffling his hair. "You aren't planning on going up there, are you?" He asked suddenly.

"Course I am!" Morgana replied, grinning widely. "What self-respecting pirate can resist buried treasure?" She asked brightly.

"You can't!" The boy exclaimed. "They'll get you!"

"No, they won't." Morgana said in a simple, confident tone of voice that was far more convincing than if she'd yelled it out or declared it passionately.

"You're nuts, lady." The boy stated, sounding perhaps a little awed. Morgana just grinned and nodded her agreement. "Good luck!" He added, turning and starting off down the dock at a run, waving over his shoulder as he went.

"Hey, kid, wait a sec!" Morgana called after him, and he looked round. "How do I get to the Marine Base from here?"

"Why'd you wanna know?" The boy asked, puzzled.

"Cause I'm gonna go blow 'em up once I get back." Morgan replied cheerfully, drawing some scandalised stares from a couple of passers by.

The boy grinned widely, laughing. "Up the main street, left at the fountain, over the bridge and then turn right past the park with the big oak. It'll be right in front of you!" He called.

"Thanks!" Morgana yelled back, and the boy waved again before darting off, dodging around a rather pissed off looking dock official. The official turned to Morgana, glowering, and Morgana giggled like a maniac as she turned on her heel and fled.

Within a couple of minutes, Morgana was sure she wasn't being followed, and she slowed to a walk. She was on the main street now, and she could even see the fountain the boy had mentioned in the distance. She didn't bother to rush, but meandered up the street, window shopping and occasionally slipping inside a shop if something caught her interest. As she reached the fountain and looked down the street to the left, she spotted Merry and Adonis stepping out of a bookshop, laden down with bags and chatting amiably.

"GUYS!" She yelled, waving and dashing over.

"Gana!" Merry said happily. "Great! Carry this." He added, and passed a couple of bags to Morgana, who took them with ease. She took a couple more off Adonis, even though he protested, until they were all about evenly burdened. "Did you find out anything interesting?" Merry asked as they began making their way back to the ship.

"Yup!" Morgana said brightly. "The Log Pose sets in three days, I found out where the Marine Base is, and I'll tell you all about those 'terrors' once we're back on the ship!" She explained quickly. "I was actually on my way to have a quick snoop around the Marine Base, but that can wait until we get back."

"Back? Back from where?" Merry asked.

Morgana grinned. "Doing what pirates do best, of course."

"Besides blowing up marines?" Merry asked, his expression wary.

"Yep." Morgana replied happily as they returned to the dock and made their back onto the _Freedom_ to dump the supplies in the storerooms. "Time to set sail!" Morgana declared, once the last bag of provisions had been stored properly.

"What?" Merry asked. "But you said the Log Pose-"

"We're not leaving the island, silly." Morgana told him. "But I want to see if we can find a place to drop anchor further up the river. You know, some place out of the way, where Marines are less likely to stumble across it." She explained.

Understanding dawned and Merry nodded. They scrambled about preparing to sail, and slowly drew out of the port and turned the bow to face the river. While this was going on, Morgana explained, as best she could, about the Nightfangs and the treasure. "Oh, so we're treasure hunting." Adonis breathed, smiling faintly.

"That's the one!" Morgana agreed brightly. "And I _really_ want to see a Nightfang. They sound awesome."

"They're certainly intriguing." Merry agreed, his eyes glittering the way they only did when he was planning stories. "But I'm a little worried about the 'few return' part." He pointed out suddenly.

"Aw, come on, it's not fun without a little risk!" Morgana said with a manic grin.

Merry sighed. "I suppose there's no chance that the Nightfangs will get _you_, so I should be fine as long as I stick by you." He stated humorously. The other two laughed, and Merry smiled. He knew he probably wasn't half as scared as he should be, but somehow, that was ok.

They sailed the _Eternal Freedom_ up the river until the town was well out of sight and they were surrounded on both sides by lush, humid jungle. When they finally found a good place to drop anchor, it was already early evening. They secured the ship, then disembarked and gathered on the bank of the river. "So, do we just head up the mountain?" Adonis asked.

Morgana nodded. "They live in the mountain, apparently, and they have _really_ good hearing too, I'd guess." She explained. "I figure there must be caves or something."

"Sounds logical." Merry agreed.

"Come on!" Morgana called as she set off into the jungle, using her jitte to knock vines and leaves and branches out of her path. Merry and Adonis took a moment to gather their courage, then forged after her. They walked on as the sun began to set, and slowly the ground began to slope more steeply.

When true darkness fell, they stopped and set up camp in a small clearing. Just as Morgana was setting out her sleeping bag, and eerie high-pitched howling started up. A little shiver went down all of their spines at the sound. "Do you think…?" Adonis breathed.

"Nightfangs…" Merry murmured, nodding.

Morgana closed her eyes and listened hard. The howl sounded vaguely canine, but it was far too high pitched to belong to any dog or wolf. It was also very melodious, hauntingly beautiful and oddly mournful. "It sounds beautiful." Morgana muttered.

When she opened her eyes, Morgana saw that Merry was smiling. "This is the stuff legends are made out of." He said in a reverent whisper.

Morgana smiled and nodded her agreement as she finished setting out her sleeping bag and crawled into it. "Night guys." She whispered, and the other two replied in kind. They drifted off with the sound of the Nightfangs' song as their lullaby.


	12. Chapter 11: The Search Begins

_A/N: Here's the new version of chapter eleven. You might notice that the end is almost identical to how it was before, but that's because it was the only bit that wasn't completely OOC. (How crappy is that, getting my OWN characters out of character...? *sigh*)_

_Well, enjoy!_

* * *

><p>The next day, Morgana was expecting to have to spend most of the day searching for an entrance to the caves, but they didn't. After perhaps half an hour of walking, they came across a game trail. Curious, they followed it up the mountain, and it led them right to the mouth of an extremely large cave.<p>

"We could fit the _Freedom_ through that!" Morgana exclaimed, whistling in admiration as she tilted her head back to look up at the top of the cave mouth. Something shiny caught her eye and she squinted, shading her eyes with her hand in the hopes of seeing better. "It looks like there's a plaque or something up there." She said eventually.

Merry followed her gaze, then pulled a telescope out of his bag and focused it on the plaque. "It looks like gold." He said after a moment. "Um… there's a strange symbol on it… Like an X with an M on top." He stated.

"Could be like a 'danger, keep out' type warning." Morgana suggested

"On a gold plaque?" Merry asked, his expression doubtful.

Morgana shrugged. "Maybe not then." She said with a sheepish grin. "Uh… stylised pirate flag?" She suggested. Merry blinked, then nodded, smiling slightly. "So now we know we're in the right place!" Morgana declared brightly. "Let's go!"

"Wait, Gana." Merry said, peering into the cave. "If you're right about the caves being all over the place, then we need to be careful. If we just charge in, we could get lost and end up dying in there from starvation or something." He pointed out.

"Oh, good point." Morgana replied, frowning as she considered the cave.

"I can draw a map as we go along." Adonis suggested. "That way, we can always find our way out again." He added.

"Brilliant!" Morgana declared, and Adonis smiled bashfully as he reached into his bag and pulled out a piece of paper, a board to rest it on, and a pencil. "Right, we ready?" Morgana asked of the others. Merry took a moment to put his telescope away and pull out a torch instead. "Oh, good idea." Morgana exclaimed, and pulled out her own torch, along with a little contraption that Merry couldn't identify. She clipped the contraption to her belt, looking very smug.

"Morgana… What is that?" Merry asked, a little nervously while Adonis fiddled about, attaching a little clip-on light to his board.

Morgana glanced at him, and he noticed her eyes were that dangerous mauve colour that meant she was planning nasty things and enjoying it. "A mini flame-thrower, of course." She said, smirking. Merry's eyes widened. "In case the Nightfangs decide they don't wanna play nice."

"I guess that's a… good precaution…?" Merry said, not sounding very convinced.

Morgana shrugged. "I just figured, seeing as they seem to be nocturnal or something, then they probably wouldn't like fire. And when I saw this in an old junk shop, I just _had_ to get it. it's so perfect." She said happily, patting the flame-thrower as if it were a kitten, not an inanimate object.

"Ok, Gana, but… just remember; you might be fire-proof, but we're not. Ok?" Merry prompted.

"I know." Morgana dismissed. "Now, lets go already!" She declared, and set off into the cave without waiting for the other two. Merry and Adonis exchanged a look of mixed amusement and exasperation, then hurried to catch up with her.

As they walked deeper and deeper into the mountain, the cave narrowed until the ceiling was only just high enough for Adonis to walk without stooping, and it was no longer comfortable to walk three-abreast. Morgana took the lead, with Merry sticking next to Adonis and watching with interest as the other boy drew a rough map of the path they were following.

All of a sudden, the tunnel opened up into a wide cave. There must have been an opening somewhere above them, because a small amount of light was trickling in and reflecting off shards of crystals in the walls, making the whole place glitter. They could hear the sound of running water, and there were a few natural pools gathering in indents along the cave wall, usually surrounded by patches of moss and fungi. There were two relatively large tunnels leading off the cave, as well as a much smaller one off to the side.

"Which way do we go?" Merry asked, looking around with his torch hanging uselessly by his side. With all the light reflecting off the walls, he certainly didn't need it at the moment.

"Well, that tunnel would keep us close to the outside of the mountain." Adonis said, pointing at the first of the two large tunnels, with his eyes on the map. He glanced up, and went back to sketching the cave. "And the other two lead deeper into the mountain." He added, sounding a little distracted.

"The floor over here is worn." Morgana stated, pointing to the narrower tunnel. "Which means the Nightfangs probably use it a lot." She added, and Merry nodded his agreement. "So we go this way, then." Morgana concluded, heading down the narrower tunnel.

"That doesn't look very safe." Merry muttered, looking at how narrow the tunnel was. It was perhaps three feet wide, five feet high and extremely twisty and winding.

"The Nightfangs use it, so I'm sure it's fine!" Morgana stated cheerfully, clambering into the tunnel without a second thought.

"Yeah, but for all we know, the Nightfangs are as big as bunny rabbits." Merry muttered, rolling his eyes and stepping up to the edge of the tunnel. He leaned forwards and watched as Morgana made her way through, round a bend and out of sight. "What does it look like?" He called.

"It widens out a bit further up!" Morgana called. "Come on!"

Sighing, Merry glanced back at Adonis, who gave him a small, half resigned, half encouraging smile that surprisingly did make Merry feel a little better. Marvelling at Morgana's ability to drag him into danger, Merry clambered through the tunnel after her.

When he rounded the sharpest bend, he found that Morgana had been telling the truth. It did wide out, enough for them to walk comfortably in single file, at least. The walls were rough, craggy and slick with water, while the ceiling had a great many stalactites hanging from it. However, while there were a few matching stalagmites at the edges of the tunnel, the center of the floor was worn smooth, as if many creatures did indeed walk this route somewhat frequently.

Morgana waited for Merry and Adonis to join her before setting off again, once again taking the lead. She swung her torch continuously, taking in as much of the tunnel as she could. Occasionally, the tunnel would branch off, with small tunnels leading elsewhere, but they were either too small for any of them to crawl through, or so completely undisturbed that they weren't very promising.

After what felt like hours of walking, they came to yet another branch tunnel, but this one was just about big enough for them to get through if they were bent double, and the floor was worn smooth down that tunnel as well. "Should we have a look at what's down there?" Morgana asked, but before Merry could answer, she had stuck her torch in her mouth and dropped to her hands and knees in front of the tunnel.

"That was a rhetorical question, then?" Merry muttered to himself as Morgana disappeared into the tunnel, making Adonis chuckle. He waited a few more seconds, then dropped down to crouch in front of the tunnel. Cautiously, he made his way along it, following Morgana's silhouette. Once he was inside the tunnel, he realised it was bigger than he had estimated, and it wasn't a tight fit at all with them crawling through on all fours.

Quite suddenly, the end of the tunnel was upon them, and Morgana straightened, taking her torch in hand again and shining it around the cavern they had ended up in. As Merry scrambled out after her, he followed the beam of her torch and tried to take in the appearance of the cave. It was small, but there were cracks and fissures in the walls that extended deep into the rock face. The most fascinating part was the shimmering, milky shards littering the floor. They looked, to Merry's novelist's eyes, like the fragments left behind when moonstone was cut from rock.

"Wow…" Morgana breathed, letting the beam of light from her torch sweep the floor, highlighting the shards and filling the cave with soft, reflected light. She bent down and picked up a small shard, turning it over in her fingers. The shiny, milky parts were smooth and almost silky, while the rest was rough and craggy and porous. The shard itself was small, half the size of her palm and oddly disk-shaped.

"This place is beautiful." Adonis murmured, looking around in awe. "Do you think this could be the treasure?" He asked.

Merry shook his head. "No… This doesn't look like it's ever been touched by human hands before." He stated, nudging a few of the shards with his foot. They clacked together softly, and Merry raised his eyes and spotted something on the wall of the cave that caught his interest. "Is it just me, or does that crack actually look like it leads somewhere?" He asked suddenly, pointing to the opposite side of the cave, which wasn't too far from them.

"Lets go look!" Morgana exclaimed, immediately setting off across the mounds of glistening shards scattered across the floor. Halfway there, however, she got distracted. "Hey, look at this…!" She breathed, bending down. After a moment, she stuck her torch in the back pocket of her shorts and picked the whatever-it-was up and turned to face the other two. Merry pointed his torch at her, and saw that she was holding a large lump of what Merry took at first to be plain old rock. Then his torchlight caught the small patches of reflective, milky surface, and he realised that it was actually a huge lump of whatever the shards were made of.

"Oh, wow." He and Adonis breathed in unison, closing the gap to take a look at the large stone. It was about the size of a watermelon, but from the way Morgana was holding it, it seemed it didn't weight as much as one.

"I'm gonna keep it and use it as a nightlight." Morgana declared happily, and proceeded to shove the rock into her backpack. It just didn't fit, so Morgana pulled one of her pre-cooked steaks out and began gnawing on it as she finally managed to do up the straps of her backpack.

After that distraction had been taken care of, they got back to exploring. It turned out that the crack did lead somewhere. In fact, it widened out into a huge cave that had several stalactites that had actually gotten so big, they'd joined up with their stalagmite counterparts, forming huge pillars throughout the cavern.

They spent a long time wandering around it, exploring it slowly and letting Adonis draw his map of the place. The cavern was full of interesting sights and objects; bioluminescent fungi, strange gems in the walls, mushrooms that squeaked when they were touched, and moss that looked lush and brilliant green, until Morgana tried to touch it, at which point it shrivelled up, going a dull grey that blended perfectly with the rock face.

Suddenly, the Nightfangs began their strange, keening howl again, and the three of them stopped what they were doing and looked round. Down here in the caves, the sound echoed eerily, making the sound reverberate oddly in their ears and adding an even stronger otherworldly edge to the sound.

"My god…" Adonis breathed, looking floored.

"I guess the sun's gone down." Morgana muttered, her eyes drifting closed as she swayed slightly in time to the rise and fall of the howling.

This statement caused Merry to check his pocket watch, and he was startled to see that it was indeed already well into the evening. "We should set up camp." He suggested, and the other two nodded their agreement.

They settled down, eating a cold dinner – not that any of them actually minded – and then clambering into their sleeping bags. A thought occurred to Merry, and he sat up again. "Do you think we should set up a watch?" He asked. "In case the Nightfangs jump us in our sleep." He added, drawing a snort from Morgana and a small chuckle from Adonis.

"Good plan." Morgana agreed.

"I'll take first watch, if you like." Adonis offered.

"Cool. I'll take second." Morgana put in.

"Sure. Here, take my watch and wake Gana at one." Merry said, passing Adonis his watch, then turning to Morgana. "And you wake me at four, ok?" Morgana nodded solemnly and lay down, snuggling deep into her sleeping . "Night." Merry called to the others.

"Night." Morgana replied.

"Sleep well." Adonis added, and then silence fell between them as Morgana and Merry tried to sleep, and Adonis tried to stay awake.

Merry lay there in the dark, listening to the Nightfangs, his mind drifting through what could only be called daydreams. Fantastical stories played out behind his eyelids as he waited for sleep to come to him. He was just beginning to relax when he noticed that something was off. Usually, Morgana dropped right off to sleep, the moment she decided she wanted to, but there was a distinct absence of her soft, breathy snores. Curious, Merry rolled over and looked at Morgana's sleeping bag.

Morgana was lying on her back, her sleeping bag drawn up to her armpits, with her arms draped over the top of the fabric. Her eyes were open, but half-lidded and a dull grey, gazing up at the ceiling of the cave without really seeing it. "Gana?" Merry whispered, only just loud enough to be heard over the Nightfangs, and Morgana blinked and turned her head towards him, smiling a little. "What's wrong?" He asked, not interested in beating around the bush.

For a moment, Morgana didn't answer, and Merry knew she was wondering if she could bullshit her way out of having to answer. He gave her a very unimpressed look, and she chuckled self-mockingly, and sighed. "I just… miss Pops." She said eventually. "I miss our little boat with the woodstove and my box-bed on top of the kitchen cupboards. I miss the smell of cigar smoke and the way Pops still managed to burn the toast after cooking for me all my life." She sighed and shrugged. "Just… homesick."

"My dad can't cook either." Merry said with a fond smile, his voice full of nostalgia. "When he tries, stuff usually ends up exploding." He added, and he was glad that Morgana laughed. "Mom can cook, though. We were rich enough to hire a cook, but mum always said she liked to do it herself. She said it made her feel like she was really and truly looking after us."

"Us?" Morgana asked, and at this Adonis looked up at them both, curiosity shining in his eyes. "You have sibling?" Morgana continued, smiling a little.

"Yeah." Merry nodded, thinking of his family. "All younger." He added, and the other two continued to look at him expectantly, so he sighed and attempted to describe them. "Katsumi is my little brother. He's eight now, and looks a lot like Dad. Then there's Rowan and Willow, they're three now." He said with a fond smile.

"They're twins?" Adonis asked, and Merry nodded.

"What about you?" Merry asked of Adonis. "Do you have any sibling?"

Adonis shook his head. "Nah. Mum and dad never wanted kids in the first place. They got a lot more careful about it after I was born. Gana?" Adonis asked, before he winced. "Oh, sorry." He apologised quickly.

"It's alright." Morgana waved him off. "Pops told me that even if dad had lived, he wouldn't have wanted more kids anyway. I was enough of a handful." They all laughed a little at that. "But apparently, Dad thought more kids would be a brilliant idea. He wanted a massive family, according to Pops, but at least two. He didn't want me to be an only child." Morgana paused, looking thoughtful, then she shrugged, and smiled a little lopsidedly.

Merry nodded in agreement. "I was an only child until I was eight." He said. "And I'm kind of glad I've got siblings, but there are always days when I wish I could just give them back." He added, and was pleased to see Morgana almost cackling with laughter at that.

"Oh, yeah!" Morgana said suddenly, rolling over to face Merry. "While we're on the subject of families." She said, and Merry looked at her curiously. "I've been wanting to tell you who my pops is." She stated, and Merry felt his jaw drop.

He was curious, he would freely admit that, but he had accepted that there were some things that Morgana just couldn't tell him, this being one of them. He had never imagined that she would turn around and decide to tell him after all. "Are you sure?" He asked. "I mean, I thought you didn't want-"

"I trust you." Morgana said simply.

Merry gaped at her, a blush slowly rising in his cheeks. "Um… thanks." He said eventually, making Morgana laugh a little.

"Smoker."

For a moment, Merry had no idea what she was talking about, but then his brain caught up with the conversation, and he froze in shock. Commodore Smoker, one of the most famous marines of the last age, was Morgana's pops? Merry attempted to deny it for all of a second, before he began piecing together the clues. Morgana's jitte, her comment about cigar smoke, her attitude towards the marines – which wasn't loathing, as it seemed at first, but something closer to pity with a hint of disgust."Commodore Smoker?" He checked. "Born in Loguetown? Stationed there for most of his marine career?"

"Yes." Morgana replied simply.

"Commodore Smoker, _famous_ for his rigid policy on pirates… _slept_ with Fire-Fist Ace, Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, _and_ son of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger?" Merry asked again, just to be absolutely sure.

"Yes." Morgana said again.

Merry took a moment to sort this out in his mind, and match it up to everything he knew about the people involved. Finally, he nodded and let out a sigh. "Ok." He said simply, and Morgana was apparently satisfied with that, because she nodded happily and rolled back onto her back. She was snoring in moments.


End file.
